Stress-Activated Protein Kinases in Human Fungal Pathogens
The ability of fungal pathogens to survive hostile environments within the host depends on rapid and robust stress responses. Stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK) pathways are conserved MAPK signaling modules that promote stress adaptation in all eukaryotic cells, including pathogenic fungi. Activ...
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Published in | Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology Vol. 9; p. 261 |
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Main Authors | , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Switzerland
Frontiers Media S.A
17.07.2019
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The ability of fungal pathogens to survive hostile environments within the host depends on rapid and robust stress responses. Stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK) pathways are conserved MAPK signaling modules that promote stress adaptation in all eukaryotic cells, including pathogenic fungi. Activation of the SAPK occurs via the dual phosphorylation of conserved threonine and tyrosine residues within a TGY motif located in the catalytic domain. This induces the activation and nuclear accumulation of the kinase and the phosphorylation of diverse substrates, thus eliciting appropriate cellular responses. The Hog1 SAPK has been extensively characterized in the model yeast
. Here, we use this a platform from which to compare SAPK signaling mechanisms in three major fungal pathogens of humans,
, and
. Despite the conservation of SAPK pathways within these pathogenic fungi, evidence is emerging that their role and regulation has significantly diverged. However, consistent with stress adaptation being a common virulence trait, SAPK pathways are important pathogenicity determinants in all these major human pathogens. Thus, the development of drugs which target fungal SAPKs has the exciting potential to generate broad-acting antifungal treatments. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Review-1 Edited by: Yong-Sun Bahn, Yonsei University, South Korea Reviewed by: Won Hee Jung, Chung-Ang University, South Korea; Michael S. Price, Liberty University, United States This article was submitted to Fungal Pathogenesis, a section of the journal Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology |
ISSN: | 2235-2988 2235-2988 |
DOI: | 10.3389/fcimb.2019.00261 |