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Review
. 2019:422:157-191.
doi: 10.1007/82_2018_114.

Histoplasma Capsulatum: Mechanisms for Pathogenesis

Jamie Mittal  1 , Maria G Ponce  1 , Inessa Gendlina  2 , Joshua D Nosanchuk  3   4
Affiliations
Review

Histoplasma Capsulatum: Mechanisms for Pathogenesis

Jamie Mittal et al. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 2019.

Abstract

Histoplasmosis, caused by the dimorphic environmental fungus Histoplasma capsulatum, is a major mycosis on the global stage. Acquisition of the fungus by mammalian hosts can be clinically silent or it can lead to life-threatening systemic disease, which can occur in immunologically intact or deficient hosts, albeit severe disease is more likely in the setting of compromised cellular immunity. H. capsulatum yeast cells are highly adapted to the mammalian host as they can effectively survive within intracellular niches in select phagocytic cells. Understanding the biological response by both the host and H. capsulatum will facilitate improved approaches to prevent and/or modify disease. This review presents our current understanding of the major pathogenic mechanisms involved in histoplasmosis.

Keywords: Histoplasma capsulatum; Histoplasmosis; Intracellular survival; Microbial pathogenesis; Virulence.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
A depiction of the acquisition process of mycelial Histoplasma from the environment to the lung with the transformation to the yeast form upon deposition in alveoli
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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