The contribution of melanin to microbial pathogenesis

By J. Nosanchuk, A. Casadevall. Cellular Microbiology, 2003

617 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Melanins are enigmatic pigments that are produced by a wide variety of microorganisms including several species of pathogenic bacteria, fungi and helminthes. The study of melanin is difficult because these pigments defy complete biochemical and structural analysis. Nevertheless, the availability of new reagents in the form of monoclonal antibodies and melanin‐binding peptides, combined with the application of various physical techniques, has provided insights into the process of melanization. Melanization is important in microbial pathogenesis because it has been associated with virulence in many microorganisms. Melanin appears to contribute to virulence by reducing the susceptibility of melanized microbes to host defence mechanisms. However, the interaction of melanized microbes and the host is complex and includes immune responses to melanin‐related antigens. Production of melanin has also been linked to protection against environmental insults. Interference with melanization is a potential strategy for antimicrobial drug and pesticide development. The process of melanization poses fascinating problems in cell biology and provides a type of pathogenic strategy that is common to highly diverse pathogens.

Subfields: Cell Biology, Dermatology, Epidemiology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/44292aada04a0582d094422afa7d19fadd3819fc

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Citations in the corpus

Initial melanin and nitrogen concentrations control the decomposition of ectomycorrhizal fungal litter (2014, background): “, 2006; Fernandez and Koide, 2013), heavy metal stress (Gadd and de Rome, 1988) and antagonistic biotic interactions (Nosanchuk and Casadevall, 2003).”
Synthesis and assembly of fungal melanin (2011, neutral): “Melanins are both negatively charged and hydrophobic (Nosanchuk and Casadevall 2003b).”
Production of Melanin Pigment by Fungi and Its Biotechnological Applications (2017, background): “Others studies suggest that melanin contributes to fungal pathogenesis because this pigment alters the host defense response mechanisms, decreases phagocytosis, and reduces the toxicity of microbicidal peptides, reactive oxygen species, and antifungal drugs as well as to play a significant role in f”
Laccases: toward disentangling their diversity and functions in relation to soil organic matter cycling (2010, background): “Beside this impact on delignification, fungal laccases are involved in various processes including competitive interactions (Iakovlev and Stenlid 2000), pathogenesis (Nosanchuk and Casadevall 2003), fruiting body formation (Kües and Liu 2000; Wösten and Wessel 2006), pigment formation during asexual”
Deposition Mechanism and Properties of Thin Polydopamine Films for High Added Value Applications in Surface Science at the Nanoscale (2011, background): “Such investigations should be made urgently owing to the implication of melanin, the probable material of the polydopamine films, in microbial pathogenesis [101].”
Infections due to emerging and uncommon medically important fungal pathogens. (2004, background): “Among the mechanisms proposed are quenching of oxidative metabolites, reduced susceptibility to antimicrobial peptides, reduced susceptibility to antifungal compounds, and decreased susceptibility to enzymatic degradation [100].”
Fungi in lake ecosystems (2010, background): “Incorporation of melanin further increases its stability and tolerance of various environmental stresses (reviewed in Nosanchuk & Casadevall 2003).”