Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii are the two etiologic agents of
cryptococcosis. They belong to the phylum Basidiomycota and can be readily distinguished …

The nature of microglia fascinated many prominent researchers in the 19th and early 20th
centuries, and in a classic treatise in 1932, Pio del Rio-Hortega formulated a number of …

Cryptococcus neoformans (C. neoformans) is a pathogenic fungus with a global distribution.
Humans become infected by inhaling the fungus from the environment, and the fungus …

Melanins are negatively charged, hydrophobic pigments of high molecular weight (54, 88,
95, 139) that are composed of polymerized phenolic and/or indolic compounds (Fig. 1)(45 …

Black melanin-like pigments are produced by several neurotropic fungi, including
Cryptococcus neoformans. Pigment production is associated with virulence. In media …

The Ca 2+-binding protein of the EF-hand type, S100B, is abundantly expressed in and
secreted by astrocytes, and release of S100B from damaged astrocytes occurs during the …

Human fungal pathogens have become an increasingly important medical problem with the
explosion in the number of immunocompromised patients as a result of cancer, steroid …

We evaluated the intracellular and extracellular biological role of S100B protein with respect
to microglia. S100B, which belongs to the multigenic family of Ca2+‐binding proteins, is …

Activation of murine microglial and macrophage cell lines with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and
interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) resulted in the induction of the inducible form of nitric oxide synthase …

While laccase of Cryptococcus neoformans is implicated in the virulence of the organism,
our recent studies showing absence of melanin in the infected mouse brain has led us to a …