Candida Infection Biology – fungal armoury, battlefields ... - FINSysB

Pattern recognition and anti-fungal immunity: The role of
C-type lectins
Gordon D. Brown
Aberdeen Fungal Group, University of Aberdeen, UK
The innate ability to detect pathogens is essential for multicellular existence, and
has been achieved through the evolution of germ-line encoded receptors which
can recognise non-self structures, the so-called “pattern recognition receptors”
(PRR). One such receptor is Dectin-1, a type II transmembrane glycoprotein with a
single extracellular non-classical C-type carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD)
and a cytoplasmic tail possessing an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activationlike
(ITAM) motif. Dectin-1 is predominantly expressed on myeloid cells and
recognises (1 3)-linked glucans. We and others have demonstrated that this
receptor mediates a variety of cellular responses to -glucans, including
phagocytosis, endocytosis and the oxidative burst and can induce the production
of arachidonic acid and numerous cytokines and chemokines. These responses
are triggered through the cytoplasmic ITAM-like motif of this receptor, utilising novel
signalling pathways involving a unique interaction with Syk kinase and collaborative
signalling with the TLRs. Dectin-1 is the first example of a signalling non-Toll-like
pattern recognition receptor being involved in the induction of protective immune
responses, and through these activities Dectin-1 plays a fundamental role in antifungal
immunity in mice and humans. Here, we will review new insights into the role
of Dectin-1 as well as other PRRs during fungal infections.
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