Brain Invasion

This is a snapshot of the inside of a mouse’s brain, seen here magnified 200 times down a microscope, and it’s not at all well. The dark pink speckles are threads of Candida fungus, invading the brain tissue and spreading aggressively. Candida is the most common fungal infection in humans, and can cause serious disease or even death. Anti-fungal drugs can help to keep infections in check, but they need to work alongside the patient’s own immune system. The reason the fungus is running riot in this mouse’s brain is because it’s missing a gene called Card9, which normally mobilises special infection-fighting cells, known as neutrophils, into action against the invaders. Babies born without the human version of the gene, CARD9, often get fungal infections affecting the brain, so figuring out how to boost their neutrophils or other parts of the immune system could prove to be a lifesaving solution.

Written by Kat Arney

Kat Arney

Writer

Dr Kat Arney is an award-winning science writer, broadcaster and public speaker, and is the founder and Creative Director of First Create The Media.

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• Image from work by Michail S. Lionakis and colleagues
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, NIH, Besthesda, Maryland, USA
• Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in PLOS Pathogens, December 2015