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Dectin-1 is required for host defense against Pneumocystis carinii but not against Candida albicans.

Dectin-1 is required for host defense against Pneumocystis carinii but not against Candida albicans.

Nature Immunol., 8, 39-46 (2007).
Saijo S, Fujikado N, Furuta T, Chung SH, Kotaki H, Seki K, Sudo K, Akira S, Adachi Y, Ohno N, Kinjo T, Nakamura K, Kawakami K, Iwakura Y.
Center for Experimental Medicine. The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo.

Dectin-1 is a C-type lectin involved in the recognition of beta-glucans found in the cell walls of fungi. We generated dectin-1-deficient mice to determine the importance of dectin-1 in the defense against pathogenic fungi. In vitro, beta-glucan-induced cytokine production from wild-type dendritic cells and macrophages was abolished in cells homozygous for dectin-1 deficiency ('dectin-1-knockout' cells). In vivo, dectin-1-knockout mice were more susceptible than wild-type mice to pneumocystis infection, even though their cytokine production was normal. However, pneumocystis-infected dectin-1-knockout macrophages did show defective production of reactive oxygen species. In contrast to those results, wild-type and dectin-1-knockout mice were equally susceptible to candida infection. Thus, dectin-1 is required for immune responses to some fungal infections, as protective immunity to pneumocystis, but not to candida, required dectin-1 for the production of antifungal reactive oxygen species.