Fungal Zinc Homeostasis and Its Potential as an Antifungal Target: A Focus on the Human Pathogen <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i>
<i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> is an opportunistic airborne fungus that causes severe invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients. Zinc is an essential micronutrient for the growth of <i>A. fumigatus</i> and even for all microorganisms. An increasing number of studies...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Microorganisms |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/10/12/2469 |
| _version_ | 1827637649206149120 |
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| author | Pengfei Zhai Yanfei Chai Ling Lu |
| author_facet | Pengfei Zhai Yanfei Chai Ling Lu |
| author_sort | Pengfei Zhai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> is an opportunistic airborne fungus that causes severe invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients. Zinc is an essential micronutrient for the growth of <i>A. fumigatus</i> and even for all microorganisms. An increasing number of studies have reported that fungal zinc acquisition ability plays a key role in fungal survival in hosts with an extremely zinc-limited microenvironment. The ability to fight scarcity and excess of zinc are tightly related to fungal virulence and may be used as new potential targets. Because the regulation of zinc homeostasis is important, a thorough understanding of the functional genes involved in the regulatory network for zinc homeostasis is required for fungal pathogens. The current mini-review summarized potential zinc homeostasis regulators in <i>A. fumigatus</i> and classified these regulators according to localization and function, which were identified or predicted based on <i>A. fumigatus</i> or deduced from homologs in model yeasts. Future perspectives for zinc homeostasis regulators as potential antifungal targets to treat invasive aspergillosis are also discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:03:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0cbf135809a24670a798c66fd225e49e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2607 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:03:51Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Microorganisms |
| spelling | doaj.art-0cbf135809a24670a798c66fd225e49e2023-11-24T16:49:37ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072022-12-011012246910.3390/microorganisms10122469Fungal Zinc Homeostasis and Its Potential as an Antifungal Target: A Focus on the Human Pathogen <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i>Pengfei Zhai0Yanfei Chai1Ling Lu2Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, ChinaCenter for Hygienic Analysis and Detection, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, ChinaJiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China<i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> is an opportunistic airborne fungus that causes severe invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients. Zinc is an essential micronutrient for the growth of <i>A. fumigatus</i> and even for all microorganisms. An increasing number of studies have reported that fungal zinc acquisition ability plays a key role in fungal survival in hosts with an extremely zinc-limited microenvironment. The ability to fight scarcity and excess of zinc are tightly related to fungal virulence and may be used as new potential targets. Because the regulation of zinc homeostasis is important, a thorough understanding of the functional genes involved in the regulatory network for zinc homeostasis is required for fungal pathogens. The current mini-review summarized potential zinc homeostasis regulators in <i>A. fumigatus</i> and classified these regulators according to localization and function, which were identified or predicted based on <i>A. fumigatus</i> or deduced from homologs in model yeasts. Future perspectives for zinc homeostasis regulators as potential antifungal targets to treat invasive aspergillosis are also discussed.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/10/12/2469<i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i>zinc transporterzinc homeostasistherapeutic targetvirulence |
| spellingShingle | Pengfei Zhai Yanfei Chai Ling Lu Fungal Zinc Homeostasis and Its Potential as an Antifungal Target: A Focus on the Human Pathogen <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> Microorganisms <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> zinc transporter zinc homeostasis therapeutic target virulence |
| title | Fungal Zinc Homeostasis and Its Potential as an Antifungal Target: A Focus on the Human Pathogen <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> |
| title_full | Fungal Zinc Homeostasis and Its Potential as an Antifungal Target: A Focus on the Human Pathogen <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> |
| title_fullStr | Fungal Zinc Homeostasis and Its Potential as an Antifungal Target: A Focus on the Human Pathogen <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fungal Zinc Homeostasis and Its Potential as an Antifungal Target: A Focus on the Human Pathogen <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> |
| title_short | Fungal Zinc Homeostasis and Its Potential as an Antifungal Target: A Focus on the Human Pathogen <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> |
| title_sort | fungal zinc homeostasis and its potential as an antifungal target a focus on the human pathogen i aspergillus fumigatus i |
| topic | <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> zinc transporter zinc homeostasis therapeutic target virulence |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/10/12/2469 |
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