Systematic identification of Candida albicans secreted proteins required for virulence

白色念珠菌是人类的主要真菌病原体。它会导致感染，如鹅口疮，一种刺激性的阴道或口腔感染，超过四分之三的女性一生中至少有一次受到阴道感染的影响。它还可以在各种医院的患者中引起危及生命的血液感染。这些感染很难诊断，即使接受治疗，死亡率也高得令人无法接受。白色念珠菌的一个显着特征是它能够释放导致组织损伤的蛋白质，防止感染被清除。然而，从我们自己的工作来看，很明显，预测白色念珠菌释放的蛋白质中相对较少的蛋白质已经被研究过。在这个项目中，我们将对白念珠菌可以主动释放的蛋白质的完整重复序列进行分析，并确定它们在致病中的作用。最终，除了增加我们对这种重要病原体的知识外，这项工作还将揭示可用于诊断白色念珠菌感染的新标记物。此外，通过这项工作，我们将确定开发新药或疫苗的目标，以帮助治疗和预防这些疾病。

Candida albicans is the major fungal pathogen of people. It causes infections such as thrush, an irritating infection of the vagina or mouth, with vaginal infections affecting over three quarters of women at least once in their lifetime. It can also cause life-threatening bloodstream infections in a variety of hospital patients. These infections are difficult to diagnose and, even with treatment, the mortality rates are unacceptably high. A striking feature of C. albicans is its ability to release proteins that cause tissue damage and prevent the infection from being cleared. However, from our own work, it is clear that relatively few of the proteins C. albicans is predicted to release have been studied. In this project we will carry out an analysis of the full repitoire of proteins that C. albicans can actively release and determine their role in causing disease. Ultimately, in addition to increasing our knowledge of this important pathogen, this work will reveal new markers that could be used in the diagnosis of C. albicans infections. Furthermore, through this work we will identify targets for the development of new drugs or vaccines to help treat and prevent these diseases.