Human Fungal Pathogens

Some yeasts and molds that are common in the environment can infect humans and cause a range of diseases, from superficial (e.g., athlete's foot) to severe (e.g., cryptococcal meningitis). These pathogenic fungi pose a particular threat to immunocompromised individuals, such as those living with HIV/AIDS, and are becoming a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide.

Written and edited by experts in the field, this collection from Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine provides a comprehensive review of the biology and diseases of fungal pathogens. Contributors examine their life cycles, nutritional and metabolic requirements, and morphological characteristics, as well as their interactions with humans-their modes of dissemination and penetration, the mechanisms they use to evade the immune system, and their effects on target organs. Specific chapters are devoted to the major disease-causing fungi, such as Candida, Aspergillus, and Cryptococcus species. The ecology, evolution, and epidemiology of human fungal pathogens are also explored.

This volume includes discussions about options for diagnosing and treating fungal infections, as well as challenges presented by emerging drug-resistant strains. It is therefore an essential reference for all fungal biologists and medical professionals who wish to understand and manage these difficult pathogens.

(preliminary)

Introduction and General Principles and Evolution of Fungal Pathogens

1. The spectrum of fungi that infect humans

2. Evolutionary perspectives on human fungal pathogens

3. Sexual cycles, life cycles, and fungal disease

4. Genetics and genomics of human fungal pathogens

5. Fungal ploidy and parasexual cycles

Host immunity and fungal infection

6. Adaptive Immunity in defense against fungal pathogens

7. Innate immunity in defense against fungal pathogens

8. Genetics of human susceptibility to fungal infection

9. Interactions of fungal pathogens with immune cells in the lung

Microbial virulence mechanisms

10. Fungal biofilms, drug resistance and recurrent infection

11. Fungal survival and replication in macrophages

12. Morphogenesis in fungal pathogens

13. Mechanisms of fungal tissue invasion and persistence in tissue

14. Metabolism in fungal pathogenesis

Treatment strategies

15. Fungal diagnostics

16. Antifungal drug development

17. Fungal Vaccines and immunotherapeutics

18. Antifungal Pharmacokinetics/Pharmacodynamics

19. Principles of Management of Yeasts and Mould Infections

20. Antifungal Clinical Trials and Guidelines: What we know and don't know

21. Mechanisms of fungal drug resistance

Fungal pathogens

22. Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii

23. Candida pathogenic species complex

24. Aspergillus fumigatus and related pathogenic species

25. Dimorphic human fungal pathogens

26. Fungi on the skin: Dermatophytes and Malassezia

27. Human fungal pathogens of Mucorales and Entomophthorales

28. Black molds and other uncommon human fungal pathogens

29. Pneumocystis

30. The Fungal Mycobiome