Discovering New Targets: How Mice Fight Intestinal Fungus

Ever wonder how the body fights off the fungus Candida albicans in the gut? This fungus can cause problems if it turns invasive, but our bodies have a way to keep it in check. Researchers used a special technique called immunoproteomics to find out what exactly our immune system targets in the fungus. They collected secreted antibodies (IgAs) from mice that had Candida in their guts. Then, they mixed these antibodies with proteins from the fungus and used magnetic beads to fish out the targets. After analyzing these targets with a powerful tool called mass spectrometry, they found 35 proteins that the antibodies were interested in. Interestingly, about 40% of these proteins were unknown. To make sure these findings were real, they did more tests, like looking at a fungus mutant under a microscope. They found that some sticky proteins called adhesins and a helper protein called Ssa2 were among the targets. This study shows that we can find new targets for our immune system to fight off fungal infections in clever ways.

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