Researchers Discover Enzyme on Aspergillus fumigatus Spores Used to Evade Host Immune System
MICROBIOLOGY
9/26/2024
Researchers at Leibniz-HKI have uncovered that the enzyme glycosylasparaginase, found on the surface of Aspergillus fumigatus spores, can suppress the inflammatory response of the immune system. A. fumigatus is one of the Aspergillus species capable of causing aspergillosis, a respiratory infection triggered by the fungus' asexual spores (conidia). In their study, published in Nature Microbiology in August 2024, the researchers identified 62 proteins found exclusively on the surface of A. fumigatus conidia after conducting a proteomic analysis on conidia from various Aspergillus species, including A. fumigatus, A. fischeri, A. oerlinghausenensis, and A. lentulus. The deletion of 33 of these proteins altered A. fumigatus susceptibility to macrophages, epithelial cells, and cytokine production. Furthermore, the researchers demonstrated specifically through a mouse model that glycosylasparaginase could modulate the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β. These findings highlight the critical role of conidial surface proteins in helping Aspergillus evade the immune response during infection, providing new insights for developing future therapies to treat aspergillosis
