Monocytic Cell Responses to Aspergillus Fumigatus: Investigation of Phagocytosis, Gene Expression Andpeptide Presentation

Aspergillus fumigatus is a member of a large genus offilamentous fungi found in the environment. It ispathogenic to humans, causing life-threateninginfections in immunocompromised patients, likeleukemia and bone-marrow transplant patients. Thisstudy was initiated to investigate a stilllittle-researched field in immune response againstthis pathogenic fungus: the role of monocytes. We therefore analyzed the interaction of Aspergillusfumigatus with human monocytes on different levels. We investigated Phagocytosis of fungal spores andperformed gene expression analysis using microarraygene chips. In a second effort we analyzed peptidespresented on monocytes upon interaction with the fungus. We could show monocytes to play a major role inphagocytosing fungal spores and that Asp. fumigatusinduces inflammatory response in monocytes, which maylead to lung injury, a phenomenon observed often inpatients with invasive aspergillosis.