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Review
. 2015 Dec 22:6:1463.
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.01463. eCollection 2015.

Fungal Melanin: What do We Know About Structure?

Joshua D Nosanchuk  1 , Ruth E Stark  2 , Arturo Casadevall  3
Affiliations
Review

Fungal Melanin: What do We Know About Structure?

Joshua D Nosanchuk et al. Front Microbiol. .

Abstract

The production of melanin significantly enhances the virulence of many important human pathogenic fungi. Despite fungal melanin's importance in human disease, as well as melanin's contribution to the ability of fungi to survive in diverse hostile environments, the structure of melanin remains unsolved. Nevertheless, ongoing research efforts have progressively revealed several notable structural characteristics of this enigmatic pigment, which will be the focus of this review. These compositional and organizational insights could further our ability to develop novel therapeutic approaches to combat fungal disease and enhance our understanding of how melanin is inserted into the cell wall.

Keywords: cryptococcus; fungal virulence; fungi; melanin; structure.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
A conceptualization of melanin organization and identified interactions with macromolecular structures in the cell wall of Cryptococcus neoformans.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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