NIH VideoCast - Insights into Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology from Cryptococcus Neoformans

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Insights into Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology from Cryptococcus Neoformans

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Air date:	Wednesday, January 28, 2015, 3:00:00 PM Time displayed is Eastern Time, Washington DC Local
Views:	Total views: 410 (86 Live, 324 On-demand)
Category:	WALS - Wednesday Afternoon Lectures
Runtime:	00:59:37
Closed captioning:	Check box to display CC outside of the video Note: You can drag the captioning window around and resize it
Description:	Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series The majority of human pathogenic fungi are soil-dwelling microbes that have no obvious need for animal hosts. This raises a fundamental question in microbial pathogenesis: Why do some of these organisms cause disease in mammals? In this lecture we will dissect the biology of the human pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans in an effort to glean an explanation for the origin of virulence. C. neoformans is an intracellular pathogen with a remarkable replicative strategy that includes the capacity for exciting the host cell without triggering its lysis. This process involves inflicting just enough damage to the host cell to interfere with its microbicidal properties without triggering cell-death pathways such that intracellular replication can proceed unhindered while the host cell remains alive to participate in the exit of fungal cells. The similarity in the interactions between cryptococcal cells with macrophages and amoeba has led to the proposal that the cells' capacity for mammalian virulence emerged accidentally as a result of environmental interactions with phagocytic predators. In this lecture we will also explore the fascinating properties of melanin, an enigmatic pigment that performs a myriad of functions from enhancing cell-wall integrity to energy transduction. We will also consider some of the immunological lessons from studying C. neoformans, which produced important insights into novel antibody protective functions. Finally, we will look at the big picture of fungal pathogenesis and explore the concept of accidental virulence and the likelihood that global warming will bring new fungal diseases.

NLM Title:	Insights into microbial pathogenesis and immunology from Cryptococcus neoformans / Arturo Casadevall.
Author:	Casadevall, Arturo. National Institutes of Health (U.S.),
Publisher:
Abstract:	(CIT): The majority of human pathogenic fungi are soil-dwelling microbes that have no obvious need for animal hosts. This raises a fundamental question in microbial pathogenesis: Why do some of these organisms cause disease in mammals? In this lecture we will dissect the biology of the human pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans in an effort to glean an explanation for the origin of virulence. C. neoformans is an intracellular pathogen with a remarkable replicative strategy that includes the capacity for exciting the host cell without triggering its lysis. This process involves inflicting just enough damage to the host cell to interfere with its microbicidal properties without triggering cell-death pathways such that intracellular replication can proceed unhindered while the host cell remains alive to participate in the exit of fungal cells. The similarity in the interactions between cryptococcal cells with macrophages and amoeba has led to the proposal that the cells' capacity for mammalian virulence emerged accidentally as a result of environmental interactions with phagocytic predators. In this lecture we will also explore the fascinating properties of melanin, an enigmatic pigment that performs a myriad of functions from enhancing cell-wall integrity to energy transduction. We will also consider some of the immunological lessons from studying C. neoformans, which produced important insights into novel antibody protective functions. Finally, we will look at the big picture of fungal pathogenesis and explore the concept of accidental virulence and the likelihood that global warming will bring new fungal diseases.
Subjects:	Cryptococcus neoformans--immunology Cryptococcus neoformans--pathogenicity Environment Mycoses--etiology
Publication Types:	Lecture Webcast

NLM Classification:	QW 180.5.D38
NLM ID:	101653994
CIT Live ID:	15492
Permanent link:	https://videocast.nih.gov/watch=15492

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