About
Fungal infections have emerged over the past three decades as a considerable threat to human health. These deadly fungal infections are almost all due to species from three genera: Aspergillus, Candida and Cryptococcus. The poor prognosis of the systemic infections caused by Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans reflects both delayed diagnosis and the limited efficacy of the existing antifungal arsenal. In this project, we aim to identify and characterize GPI-anchored proteins (GAPs) that play a crucial role in the biology of C. albicans, Cr. neoformans and A. fumigatus as there is evidence that these important, under-studied components of the cell wall may represent suitable targets in the development of novel antifungals, immunotherapeutics and vaccines. Specifically, we aim at obtaining knock-out and overexpression mutant collections for GAP-encoding genes in the three major fungal pathogens; assessing the contribution of GAPs to key events of the fungal life common to these 3 fungal pathogens; and evaluating their role in cell wall biosynthesis and understanding how selected GAPs mediate adherence of fungal pathogens to biotic or abiotic surfaces and have an impact on fungal virulence.