The immune system under a magnifying glass
Collaborative Research Center "FungiNet", Infection Biology Group, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute, in cooperation with the Electron Microscopy Center of the University of Jena
This electron microscopic image provides deep insights into the infection process, more precisely into candidiasis - a fungal infection. The fungus, which causes this infection and is being studied in the collaborative research center "FungiNet", is called Candida albicans and is coloured yellow here. Around it, small round bodies called extracellular vesicles can be seen. They are released by human immune cells in response to the fungus and contain various chemical compounds, including microRNAs, essential for signal transmission and correspondence between immune cells. Prof. Christine Skerka and her team found out that the fungus exploits these vesicles by using one of the transported human microRNAs for growth advantage.
© Christine Skerka, Peter Zipfel & EMZ Jena
The immune system under a magnifying glass
Collaborative Research Center "FungiNet", Infection Biology Group, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute, in cooperation with the Electron Microscopy Center of the University of Jena
This electron microscopic image provides deep insights into the infection process, more precisely into candidiasis - a fungal infection. The fungus, which causes this infection and is being studied in the collaborative research center "FungiNet", is called Candida albicans and is coloured yellow here. Around it, small round bodies called extracellular vesicles can be seen. They are released by human immune cells in response to the fungus and contain various chemical compounds, including microRNAs, essential for signal transmission and correspondence between immune cells. Prof. Christine Skerka and her team found out that the fungus exploits these vesicles by using one of the transported human microRNAs for growth advantage.
© Christine Skerka, Peter Zipfel & EMZ Jena