Rare Disease Illuminates Antifungal Immunity in the Brain

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Recruitment of Infection-Fighting Immune Cells Depends on CARD9

A new study led by NIAID researchers describes the crucial role of the protein CARD9 in recruiting infection-fighting immune cells to the central nervous system, or CNS, during fungal infection. Their findings increase understanding of antifungal immunity in the brain and nervous system and help explain why people with CARD9 deficiency, a rare immune disorder, are highly susceptible to fungal infections. The study is published in PLOS Pathogens.

Rare Disease Illuminates Antifungal Immunity in the Brain — Picture from a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the cervical spine of the CARD9 deficiency patient examined in this study.
Credit: NIAID