Prof. Dr. Bernhard Hube
Transcriptional profiling and characterisation of Candida albicans infection-associated genes during host-pathogen interactions

Abstract
The opportunistic human fungal pathogen Candida albicans causes a wide range of diseases from superficial to life-threatening infections, especially in individuals with an impaired immune system. Transcriptional profiling of C. albicans during interaction with host cells and tissue in various models of infection (blood-stream, oral infection and liver invasion) has revealed a large number of fungal genes specifically expressed during these processes. However, many of these genes encode for proteins with unknown function.
In this project, the transcriptional profile of C. albicans during interaction with host cells will be extended to other tissues, such as enterocytes or endothelial cells, both from cell culture and in vivo samples. Unknown function genes, in particular those which are unique for pathogenic fungi, will be selected and disrupted to produce knockout mutants. The obtained deletion mutants, the gene and the gene product will then be analysed using existing infection models and a combination of computer-based, histological, microscopic, cellular, biochemical, transcriptional and molecular approaches.
The aim of this approach is the identification and characterisation of fungal molecules involved in interactions with the host during infection and disease.

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