• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.49.1-49.15
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• 2020

C-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5) regulates the trafficking of various immune cells to sites of infection. In this study, we showed that expression of CCR5 and its ligands was rapidly increased in the kidney after systemic Candida albicans infection, and infected CCR5^-/- mice exhibited increased mortality and morbidity, indicating that CCR5 contributes to an effective defense mechanism against systemic C. albicans infection. The susceptibility of CCR5^-/- mice to C. albicans infection was due to impaired fungal clearance, which in turn resulted in exacerbated renal inflammation and damage. CCR5-mediated recruitment of NK cells to the kidney in response to C. albicans infection was necessary for the anti-microbial activity of neutrophils, the main fungicidal effector cells. Mechanistically, C. albicans induced expression of IL-23 by CD11c⁺ dendritic cells (DCs). IL-23 in turn augmented the fungicidal activity of neutrophils through GM-CSF production by NK cells. As GM-CSF potentiated production of IL-23 in response to C. albicans, a positive feedback loop formed between NK cells and DCs seemed to function as an amplification point for host defense. Taken together, our results suggest that CCR5-mediated recruitment of NK cells to the site of fungal infection is an important step that underlies innate resistance to systemic C. albicans infection.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.203-209
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• 2007

Infection structures were observed using a fluorescence microscope at the penetration sites on the leaves of potato plants pre-inoculated with the bacterial strains Pseudomonas putida TRL2-3, Micrococcus luteus TRK2-2, and Flexibacteraceae bacterium MRL412, which mediated an induced systemic resistance on potato plants against late blight disease caused by Phytophthora infestans. In order to compare the infection structures on the leaves expressing systemic acquired resistance, the leaves of potato plants pre-treated with DL-3-amino butyric acid (BABA) were also observed after challenge inoculation with the same pathogen. The infection structures were investigated. The total number of germination and appressorium formation of P. infestans were counted. Furthermore, the frequencies of fluorescent epidermal cells at the penetration sites, which indicate a defense response of plant cell, were estimated. There were no differences on the germination rates of the fungal cysts among the untreated control, BABA pre-treated, and bacterial strains pre-inoculated plants. However, appressorium formation was slightly decreased on the leaves of BABA pre-treated plants compared to those of untreated as well as bacterial strains pre-inoculated plants. Furthermore, the frequencies of fluorescent cells of BABA pre-treated and bacterial strains pre-inoculated were higher than that of untreated plants, indicating an active defense reaction of the host cells against the fungal attack. On the other hand, the pre-treatment with BABA caused a stronger fluorescent of epidermal cells at the penetration sites compared to the pre-inoculation with the bacterial strains. Interestingly, the frequency of fluorescent cells by BABA, however, was lower than that by the bacterial strains. Based on the results it is suggested that the infection structures showing resistance reaction on the leaves of potato plants were different between by pre-inoculation with bacterial strains and by pre-treatment with BABA against the late blight pathogen.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.433-445
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• 2012

During the course of evolution, animals encountered the harmful effects of fungi, which are strong pathogens. Therefore, they have developed powerful mechanisms to protect themselves against these fungal invaders. ${\beta}$-Glucans are glucose polymers of a linear ${\beta}$(1,3)-glucan backbone with ${\beta}$(1,6)-linked side chains. The immunostimulatory and antitumor activities of ${\beta}$-glucans have been reported; however, their mechanisms have only begun to be elucidated. Fungal and particulate ${\beta}$-glucans, despite their large size, can be taken up by the M cells of Peyer's patches, and interact with macrophages or dendritic cells (DCs) and activate systemic immune responses to overcome the fungal infection. The sampled ${\beta}$-glucans function as pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and are recognized by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) on innate immune cells. Dectin-1 receptor systems have been incorporated as the PRRs of ${\beta}$-glucans in the innate immune cells of higher animal systems, which function on the front line against fungal infection, and have been exploited in cancer treatments to enhance systemic immune function. Dectin-1 on macrophages and DCs performs dual functions: internalization of ${\beta}$-glucan-containing particles and transmittance of its signals into the nucleus. This review will depict in detail how the physicochemical nature of ${\beta}$-glucan contributes to its immunostimulating effect in hosts and the potential uses of ${\beta}$-glucan by elucidating the dectin-1 signal transduction pathway. The elucidation of ${\beta}$-glucan and its signaling pathway will undoubtedly open a new research area on its potential therapeutic applications, including as immunostimulants for antifungal and anti-cancer regimens.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.334-342
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• 2015

Two fumonisin-nonproducing strains of Fusarium verticillioides and their fumonisin producing progenitors were tested for aggressiveness toward maize, sorghum, rice, and beetroot seedlings grown under greenhouse conditions. None of the plants showed obvious disease symptoms after root dip inoculation. Fungal biomass was determined by species-specific real-time PCR. No significant (P = 0.05) differences in systemic colonization were detected between the wild type strains and mutants not producing fumonisins. F. verticillioides was not detected in any of the non-inoculated control plants. The fungus grew from roots to the first two internodes/leaves of maize, rice and beet regardless of fumonisin production. The systemic growth of F. verticillioides in sorghum was limited. The results showed that fumonisin production was not required for the infection of roots of maize, rice and beet by F. verticillioides.

• Mycobiology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.236-241
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• 2008

The colonization of an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus intraradices BEG110 in the soil caused a decrease in disease severity in cucumber plants after fungal inoculation with Colletotrichum orbiculare. In order to illustrate the resistance mechanism mediated by G. intraradices BEG110, infection patterns caused by C. orbiculare in the leaves of cucumber plants and the host cellular responses were characterized. These properties were characterized using transmission electron microscopy on the leaves of cucumber plants grown in soil colonized with G. intraradices BEG110. In the untreated plants, inter- and intra-cellular fungal hyphae were observed throughout the leaf tissues during both the biotrophic and necrotrophic phases of infection. The cytoplasm of fungal hyphae appeared intact during the biotrophic phase, suggesting no defense response against the fungus. However, several typical resistance responses were observed in the plants when treated with G. intraradices BEG110 including the formation of sheaths around the intracellular hyphae or a thickening of host cell walls. These observations suggest that the resistance mediated by G. intraradices BEG110 most often occurs in the symplast of the host cells rather than in the apoplast. In addition, this resistance is similar to those mediated by biotic inducers such as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.349-353
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• 2023

A 2-year-old outdoor, spayed, female Korean Jindo dog was referred for thoracic and abdominal masses. Diagnostic imaging revealed generalized lymphadenopathy and a significant amount of pleural effusion. The cytological evaluation of the pleural effusion and fine-needle aspiration of the mediastinal lymph nodes confirmed the presence of fungal hyphae. The histopathological examination of the mediastinal lymph nodes stained with Grocott's methenamine silver revealed fungal mycelia, and Aspergillus terreus was identified based on fungal DNA sequencing. Thus, the dog was diagnosed with disseminated canine aspergillosis caused by A. terreus. This case report describes a rare case of disseminated canine aspergillosis caused by A. terreus in a Korean Jindo dog.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.93-97
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• 2005

Systemic aspergillosis were outbroken of 17 Korean native calves at livestock farm in Kyunggi province. Two 3 months old calves were died after having diarrhea, coughing, dyspnea, nasal discharge, and abdominal breathing. These calves were diagnosed of aspergillosis as multifocal to coalescing pyogranulomatous inflammation with intralesional aspergillus infiltration at liver, kidney, spleen, heart, lymph nodes, lungs, intestine and cerebrum. Aspergillus fumigatus was cultured from the affected tissues. And the small intestine was positive against bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) virus on FA test. We considered that the secondary fungal infections killed the calves after BVD virus infection primarily.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.40-50
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• 2002

Fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster has developed efficient immune mechanisms to prevent microbial infection, which are consisted of cellular and humoral responses. During the systemic or local infection, two distinct pathways (Toll and Imd) play major roles in antimicrobial peptide synthesis. The Toll pathway is required to defend Gram-positive bacterial and fungal infections, whereas the Imd pathway is important in Gram-negative bacterial infection. We have shown that the infection of the opportunistic Gram-negative bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PA14 (PA14) into fly dorsal thorax can kill the flies within 48 h ($100\%$ mortality) in our optimized infection condition, suggesting that the PA14 strain can cause disease progress in fly model system. We found that flies carrying a constitutively activated mutant form of the Toll receptor $(Tl^{10b})$ showed increased resistance to P. aeruginosa infection and that flies carrying mutations in the Toll signaling pathway as well as in the Imd signaling pathway was more susceptible to PA14 infection. All these results imply that the Toll pathway might be important in the resistance to this pathogenic Gram-negative bacterial infection.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.357-362
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• 2016

ALD1 (ABERRANT GROWTH AND DEATH2 [AGD2]-LIKE DEFENSE1) is one of the key defense regulators in Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana benthamiana. In these model plants, ALD1 is responsible for triggering basal defense response and systemic resistance against bacterial infection. As well ALD1 is involved in the production of pipecolic acid and an unidentified compound(s) for systemic resistance and priming syndrome, respectively. These previous studies proposed that ALD1 is a potential candidate for developing genetically modified (GM) plants that may be resistant to pathogen infection. Here we introduce a role of ALD1-LIKE gene of Oryza sativa, named as OsALD1, during plant immunity. OsALD1 mRNA was strongly transcribed in the infected leaves of rice plants by Magnaporthe oryzae, the rice blast fungus. OsALD1 proteins predominantly localized at the chloroplast in the plant cells. GM rice plants over-expressing OsALD1 were resistant to the fungal infection. The stable expression of OsALD1 also triggered strong mRNA expression of PATHOGENESIS-RELATED PROTEIN1 genes in the leaves of rice plants during infection. Taken together, we conclude that OsALD1 plays a role in disease resistance response of rice against the infection with rice blast fungus.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.799-806
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• 2006

Fungi cause a number of plant and animal diseases. Because fungi are more chemically and genetically similar to animals than other organisms, this makes fungal diseases very difficult to treat. Human fungal infections are uncommon in normally healthy persons, being confined to conditions such as candidiasis (thrush) and dermatophyte skin infections such as athlete's foot. However, in the immunocompromised host, a variety of normally mild or nonpathogenic fungi can cause potentially fatal infections. Furthermore, the relative ease with which people can now visit 'exotic' countries provides the means for unusual fungal infections to be imported into this country. Fungal infections or mycoses are classified depending on the degree of tissue involvement and mode of entry into the host. These are Cutaneous, Subcutaneous, Systemic, and Opportunistic. As listed above, in superficial mycoses infection is localised to the skin, the hair, and the nails. An example is 'ringworm' or 'tinea', an infection of the skin by a dermatophyte. Ringworm refers to the characteristic central clearing that often occurs in dermatophyte infections of the skin. Dermatophyte members of the genera Trycophyton, Microsporum and Epidermophyton are responsible for the disease. Tinea can infect various sites of the body, including the scalp (tinea capitis), the beard (tinea barbae) the foot (tinea pedis: 'athlete's foot') and the groin (tinea cruris). All occur in the United Kingdom although tinea infections, other than pedis, are now rare. Candids albicans is a yeast causing candidiasis or 'thrush' in humans. As a superficial mycoses, candidiasis typically infects the mouth or vagina. C. albicans is part of the normal flora of the vagina and gastrointestinal tract and is termed a 'commensal' However, during times of ill health or impaired immunity the balance can alter and the organism multiplies to cause disease. Antibiotic treatment can also alter the normal bacterial flora allowing C. albicans to flourish. If we study mycoses of the orient medicine, we can improve the medical skills about mycoses.