The role of pattern recognition receptors in the innate recognition of Candida albicans

Abstract

Candida albicans is both a commensal microorganism in healthy individuals and a major fungal pathogen causing high mortality in immunocompromised patients. Yeasthypha morphological transition is a well known virulence trait of C. albicans. Host innate immunity to C. albicans critically requires pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). In this review, we summarize the PRRs involved in the recognition of C. albicans in epithelial cells, endothelial cells, and phagocytic cells separately. We figure out the differential recognition of yeasts and hyphae, the findings on PRRdeficient mice, and the discoveries on human PRR-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).