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The departments of Cellular Biology and Histology and Genetics and Microbiology of the University of Murcia (UMU) conduct joint research that reveals, for the first time, the ability of mucormycosis to cause the selective death of one of the main defenses of the immune system : the macrophages.

The results of this research, published in Scientific Reports, open a new path in the search for therapeutic targets that intervene in this process of apoptosis or cell death.

Currently, mucormycosis is a fungal disease with little frequency in the population.

The problem lies in the fact that there are no effective treatments against this infection, which reaches mortality rates of 90%.

In their fight against the fungus, researchers have used specimens of adult zebrafish, a vertebrate whose similarity to humans reaches 70% of its genetic sequence.

After infection, they found that the response of the animal's immune system was only capable of eliminating spores of smaller size.

Thus, fungi with larger spores were more virulent than those with smaller spores, "says Victoriano Garre Mula, principal investigator of the Genomics and Fungal Molecular Biotechnology Group.

Although this phenomenon had previously occurred in insect larvae, it was the first time that it was transferred to zebrafish adults, who have a developed immune system very similar to what could be found in humans.

Through observation of the immune system of the zebrafish, they realized that "when the spores germinated, they not only invaded the animal's tissue, but also induced the death of one of the most important cells for the defense against infection: macrophages. ", emphasizes Victoriano Mulero Méndez, principal investigator of the Immunity, Inflammation and Cancer (IIC) team;

"If we can prevent him from selectively killing these defenses, the organism will be able to eliminate the fungus."

These results represent a new avenue of research that could be applicable in the development of medicines to alleviate this type of infection, which, like viral infections, has few treatments.

Source: Universidad de Murcia