Interactions of fungal pathogens with phagocytes
Abstract
The surveillance and elimination of fungal pathogens rely heavily on the sentinel behaviour of phagocytic cells of the innate immune system, especially macrophages and neutrophils. The efficiency by which these cells recognize, uptake and kill fungal pathogens depends on the size, shape and composition of the fungal cells and the success or failure of various fungal mechanisms of immune evasion. In this Review, we describe how fungi, particularly Candida albicans, interact with phagocytic cells and discuss the many factors that contribute to fungal immune evasion and prevent host elimination of these pathogenic microorganisms.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The filamentation defects of the δ subunit-deleted mutant likely facilitate its elimination by phagocytes.
“As phagocytes are the first and central barrier against fungal systemic infection24,25, the filamentation defects of the δ subunit-deleted mutant likely facilitate its elimination by phagocytes.”
From The δ subunit of F1Fo-ATP synthase is required for pathogenicity of Candida albicans (2021) · cites this paper as [24]
Phagocytes are the first and central barrier against fungal systemic infection.
“As phagocytes are the first and central barrier against fungal systemic infection24,25”
From The δ subunit of F1Fo-ATP synthase is required for pathogenicity of Candida albicans (2021) · cites this paper as [24]
Cites
Candida albicans morphogenesis and host defence: discriminating invasion from colonization
Gow, N. A. R., van de Veerdonk, F. L., Brown, A. J. P., & Netea, M. G. (2012) · Nature Reviews Microbiology · doi:10.1038/nrmicro2711 · Cited by 888 · see citing works
Self-citationStress adaptation in a pathogenic fungus
Brown, A. J. P., Budge, S., Kaloriti, D., Tillmann, A., Jacobsen, M. D., Yin, Z., Ene, I. V., Bohovych, I., Sandai, D., Kastora, S., et al. (2014) · Journal of Experimental Biology · doi:10.1242/jeb.088930 · Cited by 299 · see citing works
Cutting Edge: <i>Candida albicans</i> Hyphae Formation Triggers Activation of the Nlrp3 Inflammasome
Joly, S., Ma, N., Sadler, J. J., Soll, D. R., Cassel, S. L., & Sutterwala, F. S. (2009) · The Journal of Immunology · doi:10.4049/jimmunol.0901323 · Cited by 296 · see citing works
Qian, Q., Jutila, M. A., Van Rooijen, N., & Cutler, J. E. (1994) · The Journal of Immunology · doi:10.4049/jimmunol.152.10.5000 · Cited by 246 · see citing works
Global analysis of fungal morphology exposes mechanisms of host cell escape
O’Meara, T. R., Veri, A. O., Ketela, T., Jiang, B., Roemer, T., & Cowen, L. E. (2015) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/ncomms7741 · Cited by 243 · see citing works
Candida albicans Triggers NLRP3-Mediated Pyroptosis in Macrophages
Wellington, M., Koselny, K., Sutterwala, F. S., & Krysan, D. J. (2014) · Eukaryotic Cell · doi:10.1128/ec.00336-13 · Cited by 227 · see citing works
Seider, K., Brunke, S., Schild, L., Jablonowski, N., Wilson, D., Majer, O., Barz, D., Haas, A., Kuchler, K., Schaller, M., et al. (2011) · The Journal of Immunology · doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1003730 · Cited by 220 · see citing works
An immunoregulatory role for neutrophils in CD4+ T helper subset selection in mice with candidiasis
Romani, L., Mencacci, A., Cenci, E., Del Sero, G., Bistoni, F., & Puccetti, P. (1997) · The Journal of Immunology · doi:10.4049/jimmunol.158.5.2356 · Cited by 191 · see citing works
Cheng, S.-C., van de Veerdonk, F. L., Lenardon, M., Stoffels, M., Plantinga, T., Smeekens, S., Rizzetto, L., Mukaremera, L., Preechasuth, K., Cavalieri, D., et al. (2011) · Journal of Leukocyte Biology · doi:10.1189/jlb.1210702 · Cited by 191 · see citing works
Self-citationEne, I. V., Heilmann, C. J., Sorgo, A. G., Walker, L. A., de Koster, C. G., Munro, C. A., Klis, F. M., & Brown, A. J. P. (2012) · Proteomics · doi:10.1002/pmic.201200228 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Gresnigt, M. S., Bozza, S., Becker, K. L., Joosten, L. A. B., Abdollahi-Roodsaz, S., van der Berg, W. B., Dinarello, C. A., Netea, M. G., Fontaine, T., De Luca, A., et al. (2014) · PLoS Pathogens · doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1003936 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Risk Factors and Predictors of Outcome in Patients with Cancer and Breakthrough Candidemia
Uzun, O., Ascioglu, S., Anaissie, E. J., & Rex, J. H. (2001) · Clinical Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1086/320757 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Hall, R. A., Bates, S., Lenardon, M. D., MacCallum, D. M., Wagener, J., Lowman, D. W., Kruppa, M. D., Williams, D. L., Odds, F. C., Brown, A. J. P., et al. (2013) · PLoS Pathogens · doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1003276 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Self-citationCryptococci at the brain gate: break and enter or use a Trojan horse?
Casadevall, A. (2010) · Journal of Clinical Investigation · doi:10.1172/jci42949 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Dectin-1 Activation Controls Maturation of β-1,3-Glucan-containing Phagosomes
Mansour, M. K., Tam, J. M., Khan, N. S., Seward, M., Davids, P. J., Puranam, S., Sokolovska, A., Sykes, D. B., Dagher, Z., Becker, C., et al. (2013) · Journal of Biological Chemistry · doi:10.1074/jbc.m113.473223 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Recruitment of CD63 to <i>Cryptococcus neoformans</i> phagosomes requires acidification
Artavanis-Tsakonas, K., Love, J. C., Ploegh, H. L., & Vyas, J. M. (2006) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0607528103 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Kasper, L., Seider, K., Gerwien, F., Allert, S., Brunke, S., Schwarzmüller, T., Ames, L., Zubiria-Barrera, C., Mansour, M. K., Becken, U., et al. (2014) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0096015 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Pappas, P. G., Lionakis, M. S., Arendrup, M. C., Ostrosky-Zeichner, L., & Kullberg, B. J. (2018) · Nature Reviews Disease Primers · doi:10.1038/nrdp.2018.26 · Cited by 1,636 · see citing works
The Fungal Cell Wall: Structure, Biosynthesis, and Function
Gow, N. A. R., Latge, J.-P., & Munro, C. A. (2017) · Microbiology Spectrum · doi:10.1128/microbiolspec.funk-0035-2016 · Cited by 1,423 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Fungal Cell Wall: Candida, Cryptococcus, and Aspergillus Species
Garcia-Rubio, R., de Oliveira, H. C., Rivera, J., & Trevijano-Contador, N. (2020) · Frontiers in Microbiology · doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.02993 · Cited by 917 · see citing works
Kasper, L., König, A., Koenig, P.-A., Gresnigt, M. S., Westman, J., Drummond, R. A., Lionakis, M. S., Groß, O., Ruland, J., Naglik, J. R., et al. (2018) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-018-06607-1 · Cited by 297 · see citing works
Host Control of Fungal Infections: Lessons from Basic Studies and Human Cohorts
Lionakis, M. S., & Levitz, S. M. (2018) · Annual Review of Immunology · doi:10.1146/annurev-immunol-042617-053318 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
Fungal Strategies to Evade the Host Immune Recognition
Hernández-Chávez, M., Pérez-García, L., Niño-Vega, G., & Mora-Montes, H. (2017) · Journal of Fungi · doi:10.3390/jof3040051 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
Lionakis, M. S., Iliev, I. D., & Hohl, T. M. (2017) · JCI Insight · doi:10.1172/jci.insight.93156 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
Fungal persister cells: The basis for recalcitrant infections?
Wuyts, J., Van Dijck, P., & Holtappels, M. (2018) · PLOS Pathogens · doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1007301 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Bruno, M., Kersten, S., Bain, J. M., Jaeger, M., Rosati, D., Kruppa, M. D., Lowman, D. W., Rice, P. J., Graves, B., Ma, Z., et al. (2020) · Nature Microbiology · doi:10.1038/s41564-020-0780-3 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
Self-citationWu, Y., Du, S., Johnson, J. L., Tung, H.-Y., Landers, C. T., Liu, Y., Seman, B. G., Wheeler, R. T., Costa-Mattioli, M., Kheradmand, F., et al. (2019) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-018-07991-4 · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Candida albicans the main opportunistic pathogenic fungus in humans
Macias-Paz, I. U., Pérez-Hernández, S., Tavera-Tapia, A., Luna-Arias, J. P., Guerra-Cárdenas, J. E., & Reyna-Beltrán, E. (2023) · Revista Argentina de Microbiología · doi:10.1016/j.ram.2022.08.003 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Pradhan, A., Avelar, G. M., Bain, J. M., Childers, D. S., Larcombe, D. E., Netea, M. G., Shekhova, E., Munro, C. A., Brown, G. D., Erwig, L. P., et al. (2018) · mBio · doi:10.1128/mbio.01318-18 · Cited by 133 · see citing works
Self-citationNon-canonical signalling mediates changes in fungal cell wall PAMPs that drive immune evasion
Pradhan, A., Avelar, G. M., Bain, J. M., Childers, D., Pelletier, C., Larcombe, D. E., Shekhova, E., Netea, M. G., Brown, G. D., Erwig, L., et al. (2019) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13298-9 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Self-citationCandida albicans Hyphae: From Growth Initiation to Invasion
Desai, J. (2018) · Journal of Fungi · doi:10.3390/jof4010010 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
The Role of Copper Homeostasis at the Host-Pathogen Axis: From Bacteria to Fungi
Li, C., Li, Y., & Ding, C. (2019) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms20010175 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Innate immune responses against the fungal pathogen Candida auris
Wang, Y., Zou, Y., Chen, X., Li, H., Yin, Z., Zhang, B., Xu, Y., Zhang, Y., Zhang, R., Huang, X., et al. (2022) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-022-31201-x · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Muñoz, J. F., Delorey, T., Ford, C. B., Li, B. Y., Thompson, D. A., Rao, R. P., & Cuomo, C. A. (2019) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09599-8 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Rapid evolution of an adaptive multicellular morphology of Candida auris during systemic infection
Bing, J., Guan, Z., Zheng, T., Ennis, C. L., Nobile, C. J., Chen, C., Chu, H., & Huang, G. (2024) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-024-46786-8 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Novel mouse monoclonal antibodies specifically recognizing β-(1→3)-D-glucan antigen
Matveev, A. L., Krylov, V. B., Khlusevich, Y. A., Baykov, I. K., Yashunsky, D. V., Emelyanova, L. A., Tsvetkov, Y. E., Karelin, A. A., Bardashova, A. V., Wong, S. S. W., et al. (2019) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0215535 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Johnson, C. J., Kernien, J. F., Hoyer, A. R., & Nett, J. E. (2017) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-017-13588-6 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Austermeier, S., Kasper, L., Westman, J., & Gresnigt, M. S. (2020) · Current Opinion in Microbiology · doi:10.1016/j.mib.2020.05.007 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Koch, B., Barugahare, A. A., Lo, T. L., Huang, C., Schittenhelm, R. B., Powell, D. R., Beilharz, T. H., & Traven, A. (2018) · Cell Reports · doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2018.10.080 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Dickwella Widanage, M. C., Singh, K., Li, J., Yarava, J. R., Scott, F. J., Xu, Y., Gow, N. A. R., Mentink-Vigier, F., Wang, P., Lamoth, F., et al. (2025) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-025-61678-1 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Self-citationLi, Y., Li, H., Sui, M., Li, M., Wang, J., Meng, Y., Sun, T., Liang, Q., Suo, C., Gao, X., et al. (2019) · Communications Biology · doi:10.1038/s42003-019-0419-1 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Fungal cell wall components modulate our immune system
Briard, B., Fontaine, T., Kanneganti, T.-D., Gow, N. A. R., & Papon, N. (2021) · The Cell Surface · doi:10.1016/j.tcsw.2021.100067 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Self-citationde Assis, L. J., Manfiolli, A., Mattos, E., Fabri, J. H. T. M., Malavazi, I., Jacobsen, I. D., Brock, M., Cramer, R. A., Thammahong, A., Hagiwara, D., et al. (2018) · mBio · doi:10.1128/mbio.01952-18 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Silao, F. G. S., Ryman, K., Jiang, T., Ward, M., Hansmann, N., Molenaar, C., Liu, N.-N., Chen, C., & Ljungdahl, P. O. (2020) · PLOS Pathogens · doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1008328 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
The δ subunit of F1Fo-ATP synthase is required for pathogenicity of Candida albicans
Li, S., Zhao, Y., Zhang, Y., Zhang, Y., Zhang, Z., Tang, C., Weng, L., Chen, X., Zhang, G., & Zhang, H. (2021) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-021-26313-9 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Nanoparticle decoration impacts airborne fungal pathobiology
Westmeier, D., Solouk-Saran, D., Vallet, C., Siemer, S., Docter, D., Götz, H., Männ, L., Hasenberg, A., Hahlbrock, A., Erler, K., et al. (2018) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1804542115 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Antifungal Activity of Plant Secondary Metabolites on Candida albicans: An Updated Review
Khan, A., Moni, S. S., Ali, M., Mohan, S., Jan, H., Rasool, S., Kamal, M. A., Alshahrani, S., Halawi, M., & Alhazmi, H. A. (2023) · Current Molecular Pharmacology · doi:10.2174/1874467215666220304143332 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Chen, S., Fuller, K. K., Dunlap, J. C., & Loros, J. J. (2018) · Journal of Biological Rhythms · doi:10.1177/0748730417745178 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Macrophages themselves represent the first line of defense against environmental fungi, and macrophage defects are an important risk factor for many fungal infections (MacMicking et al., 1997; Erwig and Gow, 2016).”
Xiong, J., Wang, L., Feng, Z., Hang, S., Yu, J., Feng, Y., Lu, H., & Jiang, Y. (2024) · Antioxidants · doi:10.3390/antiox13020223 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
A CO <sub>2</sub> sensing module modulates β-1,3-glucan exposure in <i>Candida albicans</i>
Avelar, G. M., Pradhan, A., Ma, Q., Hickey, E., Leaves, I., Liddle, C., Rodriguez Rondon, A. V., Kaune, A.-K., Shaw, S., Maufrais, C., et al. (2024) · mBio · doi:10.1128/mbio.01898-23 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Self-citationZhao, Y., Lyu, Y., Zhang, Y., Li, S., Zhang, Y., Liu, Y., Tang, C., Zhang, Z., Li, D., & Zhang, H. (2021) · Medical Mycology · doi:10.1093/mmy/myaa094 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
- Authors
- Erwig, L. P., & Gow, N. A. R.
- Affiliations
- GlaxoSmithKline (United Kingdom) (GB)
- University of Aberdeen (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Erwig, Lars P.
- Gow, Neil A. R.
- Venue
- Nature Reviews Microbiology
- Published
- 2016-02-08
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 163-176
- ISSN
- 1740-1526 (ISSN-L)
- 1740-1534
- OpenAlex
- W2261682386
- Cited by
- 626
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 41 · 2025: 49 · 2024: 64 · 2023: 51 · 2022: 62 · 2021: 79 · 2020: 80 · 2019: 53 · 2018: 58 · 2017: 70 · 2016: 18 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 10.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature Reviews Microbiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust (101873/A/13/Z, 099215, 097377/Z/11/Z, 097377, 080088, 075470)
- Medical Research Council (MR/N006364/1)
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/C510191/1)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Antifungal resistance and susceptibility
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Fungal and yeast genetics research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Fungal Infections and Studies
- Keywords
- fungal pathogens, phagocytes, innate immunity, immune evasion, Candida albicans, macrophages, neutrophils, phagocytosis, fungal cell wall, host-pathogen interaction, fungal virulence
- MeSH terms
- Candida albicans, Humans, Immunity, Innate, Phagocytes, Host-Pathogen Interactions, Immune Evasion
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
