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A cornea-specific role for the Aspergillus fumigatus carbon catabolite repressor, CreA, in tissue penetration and infection establishment
By Wells BL, Tang SY, Kamath MM and 5 others.
Abstract
Purpose
Elucidate the influence of glucose metabolic pathways on A. fumigatus lung and corneal infection.
Methods
The A. fumigatus acuF and creA genes were deleted in an mcherry -expressing strain. The mutants were tested for alterations in radial growth, cell wall composition by fluorescence staining assays, and antifungal sensitivity through broth microdilution assays. Hyphal penetration of the strains through explanted porcine corneas was tracked by confocal microscopy using the mCherry signal. Virulence was evaluated in established models of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) and fungal keratitis (FK) using C57BL/6J mice.
