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Jafarlou M. Unveiling the menace: a thorough review of potential pandemic fungal disease. FRONTIERS IN FUNGAL BIOLOGY 2024; 5:1338726. [PMID: 38711422 PMCID: PMC11071163 DOI: 10.3389/ffunb.2024.1338726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2023] [Accepted: 04/04/2024] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
Fungal diseases have emerged as a significant global health threat, with the potential to cause widespread outbreaks and significant morbidity and mortality. Anticipating future pandemic fungal diseases is essential for effective preparedness and response strategies. This comprehensive literature review aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the existing research on this topic. Through an extensive examination of scholarly articles, this review identifies potential fungal pathogens that have the potential to become pandemics in the future. It explores the factors contributing to the emergence and spread of these fungal diseases, including climate change, globalization, and antimicrobial resistance. The review also discusses the challenges in diagnosing and treating these diseases, including limited access to diagnostic tools and antifungal therapies. Furthermore, it examines the strategies and interventions that can be employed to mitigate the impact of future pandemic fungal diseases, such as improved surveillance systems, public health education, and research advancements. The findings of this literature review contribute to our understanding of the potential risks posed by fungal diseases and provide valuable insights for public health professionals and policymakers in effectively preparing for and responding to future pandemic outbreaks. Overall, this review emphasizes the importance of proactive measures and collaborative efforts to anticipate and mitigate the impact of future pandemic fungal diseases.
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Meier CS, Pagni M, Richard S, Mühlethaler K, Almeida JMGCF, Nevez G, Cushion MT, Calderón EJ, Hauser PM. Fungal antigenic variation using mosaicism and reassortment of subtelomeric genes' repertoires. Nat Commun 2023; 14:7026. [PMID: 37919276 PMCID: PMC10622565 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42685-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Surface antigenic variation is crucial for major pathogens that infect humans. To escape the immune system, they exploit various mechanisms. Understanding these mechanisms is important to better prevent and fight the deadly diseases caused. Those used by the fungus Pneumocystis jirovecii that causes life-threatening pneumonia in immunocompromised individuals remain poorly understood. Here, though this fungus is currently not cultivable, our detailed analysis of the subtelomeric sequence motifs and genes encoding surface proteins suggests that the system involves the reassortment of the repertoire of ca. 80 non-expressed genes present in each strain, from which single genes are retrieved for mutually exclusive expression. Dispersion of the new repertoires, supposedly by healthy carrier individuals, appears very efficient because identical alleles are observed in patients from different countries. Our observations reveal a unique strategy of antigenic variation. They also highlight the possible role in genome rearrangements of small imperfect mirror sequences forming DNA triplexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline S Meier
- Institute of Microbiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Marco Pagni
- Vital-IT Group, SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Sophie Richard
- Institute of Microbiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Konrad Mühlethaler
- Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - João M G C F Almeida
- UCIBIO, Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit, Department of Life Sciences, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal
| | - Gilles Nevez
- Laboratoire de Parasitologie et Mycologie, Hôpital de La Cavale Blanche, CHU de Brest, Brest, France
- Infections respiratoires fongiques (IFR), Université d'Angers, Université de Brest, Brest, France
| | - Melanie T Cushion
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 45267, USA
- Cincinnati VAMC, Medical Research Service, Cincinnati, OH, 45220, USA
| | - Enrique J Calderón
- Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocίo/Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientίficas/Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiologίa y Salud Pública, Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocίo, Departamento de Medicina, Facultad de Medicina, Seville, Spain
| | - Philippe M Hauser
- Institute of Microbiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Pungan D, Fan J, Dai G, Khatun MS, Dietrich ML, Zwezdaryk KJ, Robinson JE, Landry SJ, Kolls JK. Novel Pneumocystis Antigens for Seroprevalence Studies. J Fungi (Basel) 2023; 9:602. [PMID: 37367538 PMCID: PMC10300987 DOI: 10.3390/jof9060602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2023] [Revised: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Pneumocystis jirovecii is the most common cause of fungal pneumonia in children under the age of 2 years. However, the inability to culture and propagate this organism has hampered the acquisition of a fungal genome as well as the development of recombinant antigens to conduct seroprevalence studies. In this study, we performed proteomics on Pneumocystis-infected mice and used the recent P. murina and P. jirovecii genomes to prioritize antigens for recombinant protein expression. We focused on a fungal glucanase due to its conservation among fungal species. We found evidence of maternal IgG to this antigen, followed by a nadir in pediatric samples between 1 and 3 months of age, followed by an increase in prevalence over time consistent with the known epidemiology of Pneumocystis exposure. Moreover, there was a strong concordance of anti-glucanase responses and IgG against another Pneumocystis antigen, PNEG_01454. Taken together, these antigens may be useful tools for Pneumocystis seroprevalence and seroconversion studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dora Pungan
- John W Deming Department of Internal Medicine, Center for Translational Research in Infection and Inflammation, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
| | - Jia Fan
- Department of Biochemistry, Center for Cellular & Molecular Diagnostics, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
| | - Guixiang Dai
- John W Deming Department of Internal Medicine, Center for Translational Research in Infection and Inflammation, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
| | - Mst Shamima Khatun
- John W Deming Department of Internal Medicine, Center for Translational Research in Infection and Inflammation, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
| | - Monika L. Dietrich
- Department of Pediatrics, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
| | - Kevin J. Zwezdaryk
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
| | - James E. Robinson
- Department of Pediatrics, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
| | - Samuel J. Landry
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
| | - Jay K. Kolls
- John W Deming Department of Internal Medicine, Center for Translational Research in Infection and Inflammation, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
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Abstract
Pneumocystis species colonize mammalian lungs and cause deadly pneumonia if the immune system of the host weakens. Each species presents a specificity for a single mammalian host species. Pneumocystis jirovecii infects humans and provokes pneumonia, which is among the most frequent invasive fungal infections. The lack of in vitro culture methods for these fungi complicates their study. Recently, high-throughput sequencing technologies followed by comparative genomics have allowed a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in the sexuality of Pneumocystis organisms. The structure of their mating-type locus corresponding to a fusion of two loci, Plus and Minus, and the concomitant expression of the three mating-type genes revealed that their mode of sexual reproduction is primarily homothallism. This mode is favored by microbial pathogens and involves a single self-compatible mating type that can enter into the sexual cycle on its own. Pneumocystis sexuality is obligatory within the host's lungs during pneumonia in adults, primary infection in children, and possibly colonization. This sexuality participates in cell proliferation, airborne transmission to new hosts, and probably antigenic variation, processes that are crucial to ensure the survival of the fungus. Thus, sexuality is central in the Pneumocystis life cycle. The obligate biotrophic parasitism with obligate sexuality of Pneumocystis is unique among fungi pathogenic to humans. Pneumocystis organisms are similar to the plant fungal obligate biotrophs that complete their entire life cycle within their hosts, including sex, and that are also difficult to grow in vitro.
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