Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 Mar;37(2):163-71.
doi: 10.1007/s00281-014-0464-2. Epub 2014 Nov 18.

The cross-talk between opportunistic fungi and the mammalian host via microbiota's metabolism

Luigina Romani  1 , Teresa Zelante, Melissa Palmieri, Valerio Napolioni, Matteo Picciolini, Andrea Velardi, Franco Aversa, Paolo Puccetti
Affiliations
Review

The cross-talk between opportunistic fungi and the mammalian host via microbiota's metabolism

Luigina Romani et al. Semin Immunopathol. 2015 Mar.

Abstract

An increased understanding of the importance of microbiota in shaping the host's immune and metabolic activities has rendered fungal interactions with their hosts more complex than previously appreciated. It is now clear that a three-way interaction between host, fungi, and microbiota dictates the types of host-fungus relationship. Indeed, microbial dysbiosis predisposes to a variety of chronic fungal infections and diseases at local and distant sites. By correlating changes in metabolite profiles with microbiota metagenomic composition, we have defined a functional node whereby certain bacteria species contribute to host-fungal symbiosis and mucosal homeostasis. A tryptophan catabolic pathway is exploited by commensal lactobacilli and the mammalian host to increase fitness in response to Candida albicans by inducing resistance and tolerance mechanisms of antifungal immunity. Much like lactobacilli in the gut, Firmicutes change significantly in the airways during aspergillosis. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor has a pivotal role in connecting tryptophan catabolism by microbial communities and the host's own pathway of tryptophan degradation through the enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1. These data suggest that the study of the human microbiota in the trans-omics era, with a focus on metagenomics and metabonomics, is providing novel insights into the regulation of host immune responsiveness to fungi.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2009 Dec;106(51-52):837-42 - PubMed
    1. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2007 Jan;5(1):13-28 - PubMed
    1. Am J Gastroenterol. 2009 Jul;104(7):1745-53 - PubMed
    1. J Clin Microbiol. 2006 Aug;44(8):2933-41 - PubMed
    1. Science. 2012 Jun 8;336(6086):1262-7 - PubMed

Publication types

Substances

LinkOut - more resources