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Pathogens
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Signal Transduction in Pathogenic Fungi
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Signal Transduction in Pathogenic Fungi

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817). This special issue belongs to the section "Fungal Pathogens".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2020) | Viewed by 11234

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Kwang-Soo Shin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Microbiology, Graduate School, Daejeon University, Daejeon 34520, Republic of Korea
Interests: pathogenic fungi; Aspergillus fumigatus

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Aspergillus fumigatus is a widespread saprophytic fungus in nature, and this ubiquitous fungus is the most prevalent airborne fungal pathogen, causing a multitude of diseases in humans, such as allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, aspergilloma, and invasive aspergillosis. As an opportunistic human pathogen, A. fumigatus can cause a serious invasive pulmonary aspergillosis leading to a high mortality rate, mainly in immunocompromised patients. Like other fungi, A. fumigatus is able to sense various external signals, including nutrients, hormones, stimuli, and environmental stresses, and elicit appropriate responses. Numerous signaling pathways, such as PKA signaling, MAPK signaling, PKC signaling, and CWI signaling, are involved in these processes. These signal pathways play key roles in the production of toxin, asexual/sexual development, and virulence. This Special Issue is devoted to understanding these important issues. We welcome submissions on all aspects of A. fumigatus signal transduction and other related hot topics in the form of original research and review articles.

We hope you will participate by submitting a high-quality research paper or review article for inclusion in this Special Issue.

References:

  1. Dagenais, T.R.; Keller, N.P. Pathogenesis of Aspergillus fumigatus in Invasive Aspergillosis. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 2009, 22, 447–465. doi:10.1128/CMR.00055-08.
  2. Kim, Y.; Lee, M.W.; Jun, S.C.; Choi, Y.H.; Yu, J.H.; Shin, K.S. RgsD negatively controls development, toxigenesis, stress response, and virulence in Aspergillus fumigatus. Sci. Rep. 2019, 9, 811. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-37124-2.
  3. Kwon-Chung, K.J.; Sugui, J.A. Aspergillus fumigatus-what makes the species a ubiquitous human fungal pathogen? PLoS Pathog. 2013, 9, e1003743. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1003743.
  4. Latge, J.P. Aspergillus fumigatus and aspergillosis. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 1999, 12, 310–350.
  5. Yu, J.H. Heterotrimeric G protein signaling and RGSs in Aspergillus nidulans. J Microbiol 2006 44, 145–154.

Prof. Dr. Kwang-Soo Shin
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pathogens is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • CWI signaling
  • G protein signaling
  • intracellular signaling
  • MAPK pathway
  • PKA pathway
  • PKC pathway
  • regulators of signal transduction

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 3941 KiB  
Article
Comparative Characterization of G Protein α Subunits in Aspergillus fumigatus
by Yong-Ho Choi, Na-Young Lee, Sung-Su Kim, Hee-Soo Park and Kwang-Soo Shin
Pathogens 2020, 9(4), 272; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9040272 - 9 Apr 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2492
Abstract
Trimeric G proteins play a central role in the G protein signaling in filamentous fungi and Gα subunits are the major component of trimeric G proteins. In this study, we characterize three Gα subunits in the human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. While the [...] Read more.
Trimeric G proteins play a central role in the G protein signaling in filamentous fungi and Gα subunits are the major component of trimeric G proteins. In this study, we characterize three Gα subunits in the human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. While the deletion of gpaB and ganA led to reduced colony growth, the growth of the ΔgpaA strain was increased in minimal media. The germination rate, conidiation, and mRNA expression of key asexual development regulators were significantly decreased by the loss of gpaB. In contrast, the deletion of gpaA resulted in increased conidiation and mRNA expression levels of key asexual regulators. The deletion of gpaB caused a reduction in conidial tolerance against H2O2, but not in paraquat (PQ). Moreover, the ΔgpaB mutant showed enhanced susceptibility against membrane targeting azole antifungal drugs and reduced production of gliotoxin (GT). The protein kinase A (PKA) activity of the ΔganA strain was severely decreased and protein kinase C (PKC) activity was detected all strains at similar levels, indicating that all G protein α subunits of A. fumigatus may be a component of the cAMP/PKA signaling pathway and appear to possess the PKC signaling pathway as an alternative backup pathway to compensate for PKA depletion. Collectively, the three Gα subunits regulate growth, germination, asexual development, resistance to oxidative stress, and GT production differently via the PKA or PKC signaling pathway. The function of GanA of A. fumigatus was elucidated for the first time. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Signal Transduction in Pathogenic Fungi)
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9 pages, 1285 KiB  
Communication
Transcriptomic and Functional Studies of the RGS Protein Rax1 in Aspergillus fumigatus
by Yong-Ho Choi, Min-Woo Lee, Olumuyiwa Ayokunle Igbalajobi, Jae-Hyuk Yu and Kwang-Soo Shin
Pathogens 2020, 9(1), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9010036 - 31 Dec 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2928
Abstract
In the comparative transcriptomic studies of wild type (WT) and rax1 null mutant strains, we obtained an average of 22,222,727 reads of 101 bp per sample and found that 183 genes showed greater than 2.0-fold differential expression, where 92 and 91 genes were [...] Read more.
In the comparative transcriptomic studies of wild type (WT) and rax1 null mutant strains, we obtained an average of 22,222,727 reads of 101 bp per sample and found that 183 genes showed greater than 2.0-fold differential expression, where 92 and 91 genes were up-and down-regulated in Δrax1 compared to WT, respectively. In accordance with the significantly reduced levels of gliM and casB transcripts in the absence of rax1, the Δrax1 mutant exhibited increased sensitivity to exogenous gliotoxin (GT) without affecting levels of GT production. Moreover, Δrax1 resulted in significantly restricted colony growth and reduced viability under endoplasmic reticulum stress condition. In summary, Rax1 positively affects expression of gliM and metacaspase genes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Signal Transduction in Pathogenic Fungi)
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Review

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9 pages, 973 KiB  
Review
Heterotrimeric G-Protein Signalers and RGSs in Aspergillus fumigatus
by Hee-Soo Park, Min-Ju Kim, Jae-Hyuk Yu and Kwang-Soo Shin
Pathogens 2020, 9(11), 902; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9110902 - 28 Oct 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 5423
Abstract
The heterotrimeric G-protein (G-protein) signaling pathway is one of the most important signaling pathways that transmit external signals into the inside of the cell, triggering appropriate biological responses. The external signals are sensed by various G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and transmitted into G-proteins consisting [...] Read more.
The heterotrimeric G-protein (G-protein) signaling pathway is one of the most important signaling pathways that transmit external signals into the inside of the cell, triggering appropriate biological responses. The external signals are sensed by various G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and transmitted into G-proteins consisting of the α, β, and γ subunits. Regulators of G-protein signaling (RGSs) are the key controllers of G-protein signaling pathways. GPCRs, G-proteins, and RGSs are the primary upstream components of the G-protein signaling pathway, and they are highly conserved in most filamentous fungi, playing diverse roles in biological processes. Recent studies characterized the G-protein signaling components in the opportunistic pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. In this review, we have summarized the characteristics and functions of GPCRs, G-proteins, and RGSs, and their regulatory roles in governing fungal growth, asexual development, germination, stress tolerance, and virulence in A. fumigatus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Signal Transduction in Pathogenic Fungi)
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