Interaction of Candida albicans with host cells: virulence factors, host defense, escape strategies, and the microbiota

Abstract

The interaction between Candida albicans and its host cells is characterized by a complex interplay between the expression of fungal virulence factors, which results in adherence, invasion and cell damage, and the host immune system, which responds by secreting proinflammatory cytokines, activating antimicrobial activities and killing the fungal pathogen. In this review we describe this interplay by taking a closer look at how C. albicans pathogenicity is induced and executed, how the host responds in order to prevent and clear an infection, and which mechanisms C. albicans has evolved to bypass these immune responses to avoid clearance. Furthermore, we review studies that show how the presence of other microorganisms affects this interplay.

Keywords: adhesion; biofilm; fungal infection; fungal-bacterial interactions; host response; morphogenesis.