Virulence and immune response characterization of clinical isolates of Aspergillus nidulans in a zebrafish infection model

Abstract

Aspergillus nidulans predominantly causes infections in patients with a genetic immunodeficiency condition named Chronic Granulomatous Disease (CGD). However, it can also infect other immunocompromised patients. Although A. nidulans causes a severe, often fatal disease, especially in CGD patients, little is known about the fungus-host interaction, and how different strains may induce different immune responses. Therefore, the goal of this project is to characterize both virulence and immune responses of two clinical isolates of A. nidulans, and compare them with the reference strain A4, in a zebrafish-larval models - including CGD and neutropenic lines - for invasive aspergillosis (IA). The power of the zebrafish system is that it is amenable to live imaging in real time provides visualization of both host immune cells and fungal invasion. Finally, the present study has the potential to provide more in-depth knowledge on the different responses of the immune system to pathogen heterogeneity that could lead to new intervention approaches in controlling IA.