Uncovering how Cryptococcus shifts from silent infection to killer fungus
Researchers are investigating how the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans transitions from a dormant state to a lethal infection. The study highlights the complex role of CD4 T-cells in keeping the fungus in check, particularly in immunocompromised individuals.
Why it matters
Understanding this mechanism is critical for developing better treatments for meningitis, which kills over 150,000 people annually.
edited by Sadie Harley , reviewed by Robert Egan
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Add as preferred source (From left) Kirsten Nielsen, Ian Jeong, Priscilla Atim, and Rachel Ber-Murante in the Nielsen Lab. Kirsten Nielsen's research focuses on how the fungal infection Cryptococcus shifts from a dormant infection to a harsh and dangerous one. Credit: Andrew Mann for Virginia Tech. For most healthy people, Cryptococcus is an unnoticed infection. The immune system walls it off in the lungs and keeps it dormant for life. But in patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy, recovering from an organ transplant, living with HIV or taking newer immunosuppressing drugs for autoimmune disease, the fungus can reactivate, spread to the brain and cause meningitis.
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