Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
C
HAPTER
9
Use of Luciferases as a Tool to
Analyze Fungal Physiology
in Association with Gene
Transcription
David M. Arana and Jesús Pla*
Abstract
Bioluminescent reporters have been widely used in basic research as a biotech-
nological tool to understand the physiology of living organisms. These tech-
niques have proved to be versatile and have an important role in defi ning the
molecular events associated with gene transcription. In this chapter we will
focus on the main applications that use bioluminescence enzymes, luciferases,
in the study of fungal physiology paying special attention to their role in the
analysis of opportunistic fungal pathogens like
Candida albicans
,
Cryptococ-
cus neoformans
and
Aspergillus fumigatus.
We review the applications of these
techniques and their relevance as powerful biotechnological tools to understand
the molecular basis of disease which will infl uence our approach to gene therapy
and drug development.
INTRODUCTION
Fungal infections still represent an important clinical problem. Infections
caused by fungi range from relatively mild superfi cial lesions to severe
(and frequently life threatening) systemic diseases. The similarity of the
fungus to the mammalian host cell (both eukaryotic) has complicated the
development of antifungal antibiotics and treatment of fungal diseases rely
