An invertebrate infection model for evaluating anti-fungal agents against dermatophytosis

Abstract Animal models of pathogenic infection are needed to evaluate candidate compounds for the development of anti-infectious drugs. Dermatophytes are pathogenic fungi that cause several infectious diseases. We established a silkworm dermatophyte infection model to evaluate anti-fungal drugs. Injection of conidia of the dermatophyte Arthroderma vanbreuseghemii into silkworms was lethal. A. vanbreuseghemii conidia germinated in liquid culture were more potent against silkworms than non-germinated conidia. Germinated conidia of other dermatophytes, Arthroderma benhamiae, Trichophyton rubrum, and Microsporum canis, also killed silkworms. Injection of heat-treated germinated A. vanbreuseghemii conidia did not kill silkworms, suggesting that only viable fungi are virulent. Injecting terbinafine or itraconazole, oral drugs used clinically to treat dermatophytosis, into the silkworm midgut had therapeutic effects against infection with germinated A. vanbreuseghemii conidia. When silkworms were injected with A. vanbreuseghemii expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP), mycelial growth of the fungus was observed in the fat body and midgut. Injection of terbinafine into the silkworm midgut, which corresponds to oral administration in humans, inhibited the growth of A. vanbreuseghemii expressing eGFP in the fat body. These findings suggest that the silkworm infection model with eGFP-expressing dermatophytes is useful for evaluating the therapeutic activity of orally administered anti-fungal agents against dermatophytes

Role of Genomics and RNA-seq in Studies of Fungal Virulence

Since its introduction in the last decade, massive parallel sequencing, or "next-generation sequencing", has revolutionized our access to genomic information, providing accurate data with increasingly higher yields and lower costs with respect to first-generation technology. Massive parallel sequencing of cDNA, or RNA-seq, is progressively replacing array-based technology as the method of choice for transcriptomics. This review describes some of the most recent applications of next-generation sequencing technology to the study of pathogenic fungi, including Candida, Aspergillus and Cryptococcusspecies. Several integrated approaches illustrate the power and accuracy of RNA-seq for studying the biology of human fungal pathogens. In addition, the lack of consistency in data analysis is discussed.Copyright: "It is fully accessible to all users at libraries and institutions that have purchased a SpringerLink license. If your article is published under one of our Open Access programs, it will be freely accessible to any user." Also, the journal is "Current Fungal Infection Reports", not the "Current Rheumatology" I used. This new journal was not on the list. Please add it.Have asked Research for journal to be added ([email protected]) 2012-11-23 J