Macrophage phagocytosis of Coccidioides promotes its differentiation into the parasitic form
Jane Symington, Mark Voorhies, Bevin C. English, Apoorva Dabholkar, Anita Sil · 2026
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Description
Jane Symington and co-authors study how immune cells shape a dangerous fungus after its spores are breathed in, in this 2026 paper. The fungus, Coccidioides, causes Valley Fever and can be life-threatening even in healthy people. In soil its spores grow into threads, but in a host they swell into a round parasitic form called a spherule. Heat and carbon dioxide can trigger that switch in a dish; host triggers were unknown.
Live imaging showed spores in culture quickly grew threads. Adding macrophages, the immune cells that swallow invaders, pushed spores toward spherules instead. Blocking the swallowing step blocked the switch, so contact matters. Gene readouts found a core set of genes active in spherules, plus others switched on only near immune cells. The work shows the host helps trigger the parasitic form.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Jane Symington, Mark Voorhies, Bevin C. English, Apoorva Dabholkar, Anita Sil |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 44 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |