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Fungi are everywhere. They’re present in the air, in our food, some even live inside our bodies. But most of us rarely think about diseases caused by fungi. This is because our defences do a really good job in keeping them in check.
However for millions of people whose immune system are defective fungi can cause serious infections that are hard to treat and can be life threatening.
A group of cells called phagocytes play a key role in keeping us safe from fungi. They normally patrol our body so when there’s a breach they are the first to respond. Their function is to seek eat and destroy microbial intruders.
But no all fungi are alike. My Ph.D. project aims to understand how phagocytes tackle such different targets. So far I have found there are huge differences in the rate at which various different fungi are engulfed by phagocytes.
The speed of these processes depends on the chemical composition of the fungi, whether they are alive or dead, and whether they are coated with human proteins that help to mark them as intruders.
Understanding the basic biology behind these processes is the first step towards developing new treatment strategies.
Maria Fernanda Alonso works in Professor Neil Gow’s lab at the University of Aberdeen.
Medical and Patient education videos
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European Respiratory Society: Should we be testing new drugs in the ‘real’ world where some patients smoke, are obese and have other comorbidities?
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European Respiratory Society: A revolutionary collaborative approach to research funding is providing new insights into the origins of chronic respiratory diseases.
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European Respiratory Society: Clean air is vitally important for people who live with aspergillosis. Chemical pollutants have the capacity to worsen symptoms and quality of life, PM2.5 particulates (mentioned in this video) include aspergillus and other fungal spores.
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European Respiratory Society launches its latest vision to support those with respiratory health difficulties throughout europe: encouraging patients to increase their levels of activity which is proven to improve lung health.
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Stewart Armstrong inspiring many people to do ‘Push-ups for aspergillosis’ to raise awareness and funds for aspergillosis research.
Facebook page (November 2015)
Also see the compelling video of Stewarts’ story as told by himself
