Interactions of Aspergillus fumigatus with Endothelial Cells: Internalization, Injury and Stimulation of Tissue Factor Activity
Author:
Lopes Bezerra LM, Filler SG
Date: 1 December 2003
Abstract:
Invasive aspergillosis causes significant mortality among patients with hematologic malignancies. This infection is characterized by vascular invasion and thrombosis. To study the pathogenesis of invasive aspergillosis, we investigated the interactions of Aspergillus fumigatus conidia and hyphae with endothelial cells in vitro. We found that both forms of the organism induced endothelial cell microfilament rearrangement and subsequent endocytosis. Conidia were endocytosed 2-fold more avidly than hyphae, and endocytosis was independent of fungal viability. Endocytosed conidia and hyphae caused progressive endothelial cell injury after 4 hours of infection. Live conidia induced more endothelial cell injury than did live hyphae. However, endothelial cell injury caused by conidia was dependent on fungal viability, whereas injury caused by hyphae was not, indicating that conidia and hyphae injure endothelial cells by different mechanisms. Neither live nor killed conidia increased tissue factor activity of endothelial cells. In contrast, both live and killed hyphae stimulated significant endothelial cell tissue factor activity, as well as the expression of tissue factor antigen on the endothelial cell surface. These results suggest that angioinvasion and thrombosis caused by A fumigatus hyphae in vivo may be due in part to endothelial cell invasion, induction of injury, and stimulation of tissue factor activity.
Download the full article (Disclaimer)
This manuscript library of ~16,000 articles (1729-2024) related to Aspergillus and aspergillosis is intended for individual study only, and is provided as contribution to global understanding of the topic. Please refer to the publisher’s guidance about any other usage.