ArticleEukaryotic cell2006
Calcineurin controls growth, morphology, and pathogenicity in Aspergillus fumigatus.
Article in Eukaryotic cell, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 165 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
165 citing papers in PubMed, 263 citations in OpenAlex.
- Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Regulates Sporulation, Trap Morphogenesis, Stress Responses, and Secondary Metabolism inJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Aneuploidy promotes transient stress adaptation and metabolic flexibility in the human fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus.Current biology : CB · 2026Article
- Calcineurin regulates morphological development, stress responses and virulence in Fonsecaea monophora.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Calcium transport systems as virulence determinants: Mechanistic insights into fungal pathogenicity and antifungal resistance.Virulence · 2025Review
- Aspergillus fumigatus biology, immunopathogenicity and drug resistance.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2025Review
- Whole-chromosome duplications drive antimicrobial resistance inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- The calcineurin pathway regulates extreme thermotolerance, cell membrane and wall integrity, antifungal resistance, and virulence in Candida auris.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- Signaling Pathways Regulating Dimorphism in Medically Relevant Fungal Species.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Recent innovations and challenges in the treatment of fungal infections.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Review
- Calcineurin activity in Fonsecaea pedrosoi: tacrolimus and cyclosporine A inhibited conidia growth, filamentation and showed synergism with itraconazole.Brazilian journal of microbiology : [publication of the Brazilian Society for Microbiology] · 2024Article
- Advancements and challenges in antifungal therapeutic development.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2024Review
- Pathogenicity and virulence ofVirulence · 2023Review
- The Aspergillus fumigatus UPR is variably activated across nutrient and host environments and is critical for the establishment of corneal infection.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- Review
- Calcineurin: The Achilles' heel of fungal pathogens.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- Unlocking the magic in mycelium: Using synthetic biology to optimize filamentous fungi for biomanufacturing and sustainability.Materials today. Bio · 2023Article
- Serine/Threonine Phosphatase Calcineurin Orchestrates the Intrinsic Resistance to Micafungin in the Human-Pathogenic Fungus Mucor circinelloides.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2023Article
- Chitin Biosynthesis inJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Potential Antifungal Targets forInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Genomic Approaches to Antifungal Drug Target Identification and Validation.Annual review of microbiology · 2022Review
105 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Calcineurin is implicated in a myriad of human diseases as well as homeostasis and virulence in several major human pathogenic microorganisms. The fungus Aspergillus fumigatus is a leading cause of infectious death in the rapidly expanding immunocompromised patient population. Current antifungal treatments for invasive aspergillosis are often ineffective, and novel therapeutic approaches are urgently needed. We demonstrate that a mutant of A. fumigatus lacking the calcineurin A (cnaA) catalytic subunit exhibited defective hyphal morphology related to apical extension and polarized growth, which resulted in drastically decreased filamentation. The delta cnaA mutant lacked the extensive lattice of invading hyphae seen with the wild-type and complemented strains. Sporulation was also affected in the delta cnaA mutant, including morphological conidial defects with the absence of surface rodlets and the added presence of disjunctors creating long conidial chains. Infection with the delta cnaA mutant in several distinct animal models with different types of immunosuppression and inoculum delivery led to a profound attenuation of pathogenicity compared to infection with the wild-type and complemented strains. Lung tissue from animals infected with the delta cnaA mutant showed a complete absence of hyphae, in contrast to tissue from animals infected with the wild-type and complemented strains. Quantitative fungal burden and pulmonary infarct scoring confirmed these findings. Our results support the clinical observation that substantially decreasing fungal growth can prevent disease establishment and decrease mortality. Our findings reveal that calcineurin appears to play a globally conserved role in the virulence of several pathogenic fungi and yet plays specialized roles in each and can be an excellent target for therapeutic intervention.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.