Robbins Nicole, Cowen Leah E
Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Curr Biol. 2025 Jun 9;35(11):R522-R526. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.063.
Among the millions of species in the fungal kingdom, fewer than 300 cause disease in humans, compared to the tens of thousands that cause disease in plants, insects, and ectothermic vertebrates. While the number of 'pathogenic' species is relatively small, fungal infections remain one of the leading threats to human health. Vulnerable populations with compromised immunity face the highest risk of serious infection, with over 2.5 million individuals succumbing to systemic fungal infections annually. Invasive candidiasis caused by Candida species is the leading cause of mycotic death worldwide, accounting for 88% of all hospital-acquired fungal infections in the United States. These infections are primarily caused by the fungal pathogen Candida albicans, as well as non-albicans Candida species, including emerging drug-resistant organisms such as C. auris. In fact, C. albicans and C. auris are such significant public health threats that the World Health Organization recently identified these species as 'critical threat' pathogens that are ranked highest for perceived public health importance. In this primer, we highlight some biological features of Candida species that enable them to thrive as both commensals and pathogens, including morphological diversity, genotypic plasticity, and stress response pathways required to tolerate environmental insults, with a focus on C. albicans and C. auris. We also briefly summarize current antifungal treatments used to combat Candida infections and the resistance mechanisms that have evolved to counteract these therapeutics.
在真菌界的数百万个物种中，只有不到300种会导致人类疾病，而导致植物、昆虫和变温脊椎动物疾病的真菌则有数万种。虽然“致病”真菌物种的数量相对较少，但真菌感染仍然是对人类健康的主要威胁之一。免疫力低下的脆弱人群面临严重感染的风险最高，每年有超过250万人死于系统性真菌感染。念珠菌属引起的侵袭性念珠菌病是全球真菌性死亡的主要原因，在美国所有医院获得性真菌感染中占88%。这些感染主要由真菌病原体白色念珠菌以及非白色念珠菌引起，包括耳念珠菌等新出现的耐药菌。事实上，白色念珠菌和耳念珠菌对公共卫生构成了重大威胁，以至于世界卫生组织最近将这些物种确定为“严重威胁”病原体，在公众健康重要性方面排名最高。在本入门介绍中，我们重点介绍念珠菌属的一些生物学特性，这些特性使它们能够作为共生菌和病原体茁壮成长，包括形态多样性、基因型可塑性以及耐受环境侵害所需的应激反应途径，重点关注白色念珠菌和耳念珠菌。我们还简要总结了目前用于对抗念珠菌感染的抗真菌治疗方法以及为对抗这些治疗方法而进化出的耐药机制。
