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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 May 2.
Published in final edited form as: Cell Rep. 2017 May 2;19(5):1008–1021. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.04.019

Fig. 6. Copper-defense strategies of the three fungal pathogens C. neoformans, C. albicans and A. fumigatus.

Fig. 6

Upon infection, all depicted pathogens activate host copper importers (Ctr1 and ATP7A). Known fungal defense strategies include metallothioneins in C. neoformans and metallothioneins and a copper-exporter in C. albicans. Our results demonstrate that in A. fumigatus the copper-exporter and not the copper-metallothionein is involved in copper-defense. Furthermore, we demonstrate that host PHOX generated ROI is potentiated in strains unable to export copper and that copper-export and ROI-detoxification can remediate virulence of the A. fumigatus ΔaceA mutant. We hypothesize that the existing ROI-detoxification mechanisms of C. neoformans and C. albicans may also be important in copper-regulon interactions of these yeast with host phagocytes in a manner similar to A. fumigatus.