Aspergillus and Fusarium species are important causes of fungal infections worldwide. Airborne spores (conidia) of these filamentous fungi express a surface protein that confers hydrophobicity (hydrophobin), and which covers cell wall components that would otherwise induce a host immune cell response. Using a mutant Aspergillus fumigatus strain that does not express the RodA hydrophobin (ΔrodA), and Aspergillus and Fusarium conidia from clinical isolates that were treated with hydrofluoric acid (HF, which removes the A. fumigatus RodA protein), we observed increased surface exposure of β1,3-glucan and α-mannose on Aspergillus and Fusarium conidia. We also found that ΔrodA and HF treated conidia stimulate significantly higher NF-κB p65 nuclear translocation and cytokine production by macrophages from C57BL/6, but not from Dectin-1−/− or Dectin-2−/− mice. Using a murine model of A. fumigatus corneal infection, we found that ΔrodA conidia exhibited increased cytokine production, neutrophil infiltration, and more rapid fungal clearance from C57BL/6 corneas compared with the parent G10 strain, which was dependent on Dectin-1 and Dectin-2. Together, these findings identify the hydrophobin RodA as a virulence factor that masks Dectin-1 and Dectin-2 recognition of conidia, resulting in impaired neutrophil recruitment to the cornea and increased fungal survival and clinical disease.

Calprotectin, a heterodimer of S100A8 and S100A9, is an abundant neutrophil protein which possesses anti-microbial activity primarily due to its ability to chelate zinc and manganese. In the current study, we showed that neutrophils from calprotectin-deficient S100A9 −/− mice have an impaired ability to inhibit Aspergillus fumigatus hyphal growth in vitro, and in infected corneas in a murine model of fungal keratitis; however, the ability to inhibit hyphal growth was restored in S100A9−/− mice by injecting recombinant calprotectin. Further, using recombinant calprotectin with mutations in either the Zn and Mn binding sites or the Mn binding site alone, we show that both zinc and manganese binding are necessary for calprotectin’s anti-hyphal activity. In contrast to hyphae, we found no role for neutrophil calprotectin in uptake or killing of intracellular A. fumigatus conidia either in vitro, or in a murine model of pulmonary aspergillosis. We also found that an A. fumigatus ΔzafA mutant, which demonstrates deficient zinc transport, exhibits impaired growth in infected corneas and following incubation with neutrophils or calprotectin in vitro as compared to wild-type. Collectively, these studies demonstrate a novel stage - specific susceptibility of A. fumigatus to zinc and manganese chelation by neutrophil-derived calprotectin.

Filamentous fungi are an important cause of pulmonary and systemic morbidity and mortality, and also cause corneal blindness and visual impairment worldwide. Utilizing in vitro neutrophil killing assays and a model of fungal infection of the cornea, we demonstrated that Dectin-1 dependent IL-6 production regulates expression of iron chelators, heme and siderophore binding proteins and hepcidin in infected mice. In addition, we show that human neutrophils synthesize lipocalin-1, which sequesters fungal siderophores, and that topical lipocalin-1 or lactoferrin restricts fungal growth in vivo. Conversely, we show that exogenous iron or the xenosiderophore deferroxamine enhances fungal growth in infected mice. By examining mutant Aspergillus and Fusarium strains, we found that fungal transcriptional responses to low iron levels and extracellular siderophores are essential for fungal growth during infection. Further, we showed that targeting fungal iron acquisition or siderophore biosynthesis by topical application of iron chelators or statins reduces fungal growth in the cornea by 60% and that dual therapy with the iron chelator deferiprone and statins further restricts fungal growth by 75%. Together, these studies identify specific host iron-chelating and fungal iron-acquisition mediators that regulate fungal growth, and demonstrate that therapeutic inhibition of fungal iron acquisition can be utilized to treat topical fungal infections.

Neutrophils are an important source of IL-1β secretion in bacterial infections, where they infiltrate affected tissues in log-fold higher numbers than macrophages. Neutrophils also have functional NLRP3 and NLRC4 inflammasomes that can process pro-IL-1β to the bioactive 17kD form. In the current study, we examined the role of IL-1β in response to corneal infection with the filamentous fungus A. fumigatus, and found that neutrophils were the predominant source of bioactive IL-1β in the cornea. We also found that caspase-11−/− mice exhibited the same susceptibility phenotype as IL-1β−/−, ASC−/−, NLRP3−/− and caspase-1−/− mice, with impaired neutrophil recruitment to infected corneas and increased hyphal growth. We further demonstrate that caspase-11 is required for caspase-1 activation and IL-1β processing during infection. In vitro, we show that caspase-11 is regulated by the common type I IFN receptor (IFNAR1) through JAK-STAT signaling, and that caspase-11 is required for speck formation and caspase-1 activity. Aspergillus spores (conidia) stimulate IL-1β processing and secretion by neutrophils by activation of Dectin-1 and signaling through the Raf1 kinase/MEKK rather than the spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) pathway. Collectively, these findings reveal unexpected regulation of IL-1β production by neutrophils in response to pathogenic fungi.

Protein phosphatases Z that are unique to the fungal kingdom have been associated to resistance to high salt concentration, cell wall integrity, cell cycle regulation, and oxidative stress in fungi. In Aspergillus fumigatus it was shown that PHZA is under the control of the transcription factor Skn7 and is only involved in the control of the oxidative stress. Accordingly, the ΔphzA mutant showed a defect in virulence in an experimental model of corneal infection in immunocompetent animals and that the impact on susceptibility to cell wall drugs is only secondary.

Deacetylation of chitin by chitin deacetylases (Cda) results in the formation of chitosan. Chitosan, a polymer of β1,4 linked glucosamine, plays multiple roles in the function of the fungal cell wall, including virulence and evasion of host immune responses. In this study, the roles of chitosan and putative CDAs in cell wall structure and virulence of Aspergillus fumigatus were investigated. Low levels of chitosan were found in the conidial and cell wall of A. fumigatus. Seven putative CDA genes were identified, disrupted and the phenotype of the single mutants and the septuple mutants were investigated. No alterations in fungal cell wall chitosan levels, changes in fungal growth or alterations in virulence were detected in the single or septuple cda1-7 mutant strains. Collectively, these results suggest that chitosan is a minority component of the A. fumigatus cell wall, and that the seven candidate Cda proteins do not play major roles in fungal cell wall synthesis or virulence. However, Cda2 is involved in conidiation, suggesting that this enzyme may play a role in N-acetyl-glucosamine metabolism.

Aspergillus fumigatus is an important cause of pulmonary and systemic infections in immune compromised individuals, and of corneal ulcers and blindness in immune competent patients. To examine the role of chitin synthases inAspergillus corneal infection, we analyzed Aspergillus mutants of chitin synthase family 1 and family 2, and found that compared with the parent strain, the quadruple mutants from both families were more readily killed by neutrophils in vitro, and that both also exhibited impaired hyphal growth in the cornea. Further, inhibition of chitin synthases using Nikkomycin Z enhanced neutrophil killing in vitro and in vivo in a murine model of A. fumigatus corneal infection. Acidic mammalian chitinase (AMCase) is mostly produced by macrophages in asthmatic lungs; however, we now demonstrate that neutrophils are a major source of AMCase, which inhibits hyphal growth. In A. fumigatus corneal infection, neutrophils are the major source of AMCase, and addition of AMCase inhibitors or adoptive transfer of neutrophils from AMCase −/− mice resulted in impaired hyphal killing. Together, these findings identify chitin synthases as important fungal virulence factors and neutrophilderived AMCase as an essential mediator of host defense.Keywords: Acidic mammalian chitinase r Aspergillus fumigatus r Corneal infection r Chitin synthase r Keratitis r Neutrophil Additional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section at the end of the article.

Recruitment of regulatory T cells (T regs ) to tumors is a hallmark of cancer progression. Tumor-derived factors, such as the cytokine thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), can influence T reg function in tumors. In our study, we identified a subset of T regs expressing the receptor for TSLP (TSLPR + T regs ) that were increased in colorectal tumors in humans and mice and largely absent in adjacent normal colon. This T reg subset was also found in the peripheral blood of patients with colon cancer but not in the peripheral blood of healthy control subjects. Mechanistically, we found that this T reg subset coexpressed the interleukin-33 (IL-33) receptor [suppressor of tumorigenicity 2 (ST2)] and had high programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and cytotoxic lymphocyte–associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) expression, regulated in part by the transcription factor Mef2c. T reg -specific deletion of TSLPR, but not ST2, was associated with a reduction in tumor number and size with concomitant increase in T H 1 cells in tumors in chemically induced mouse models of colorectal cancer. Therapeutic blockade of TSLP using TSLP-specific monoclonal antibodies effectively inhibited the progression of colorectal tumors in this mouse model. Collectively, these data suggest that TSLP controls the progression of colorectal cancer through regulation of tumor-specific T reg function and represents a potential therapeutic target that requires further investigation.