Aspergillosis and Humoral Alveolar Immunity by Proteomics

Aspergillus fumigatus is the most common opportunistic mold found in lung fungal infections in humans. Aspergillus is the cause of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis with a poor prognosis in immunocompromised patients and the chronic pulmonary aspergillosis which affects 3 million patients worldwide, with underlying pulmonary pathologies such as tuberculosis and its sequelae. The medicinal means to fight against these different forms are limited and not very effective. In addition, the emergence of resistance makes the search for new therapeutic strategies of major importance.

The interaction between the fungal spore and our innate immune system is the first step leading to infection.

The innate immune system is made up of cellular immunity and humoral immunity. While the first is well described, the second, consisting of soluble mediators, is essential for anti-aspergillus immunity but relatively little studied. The study of soluble mediators present in the alveolar fluid interacting directly with the Aspergillus spore would make it possible to analyze the first stages of infection. The analysis of the proteome present in the bronchoalveolar lavage of uninfected patients, suffering from various forms of aspergillosis and suffering from other types of infections would make it possible to highlight the essential and specific components of anti- immunity aspergillary.

The objective of this study is to analyze the protein profiles of innate immunity in the pulmonary alveoli in the absence or presence of Aspergillus or non-fungal infection in order to highlight the soluble mediators of the more specific immunity of the Aspergillosis.