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Abstract:

BACKGROUND Mold (Aspergillus spp.) and yeasts (Candida spp., Cryptococcus spp.) fungal infections are an increasing concern, particularly in immunocompromised or critically ill patients. Treatment options are limited and resistance has been reported in several of these fungi. Novel treatment strategies are urgently needed. Non-invasive imaging techniques are powerful research instruments to study fungal diseases. OBJECTIVE To establish non-invasive longitudinal preclinical in vivo imaging approaches that provide dynamic visual and quantitative information to better characterize fungal infections. - Insight in disease development - Identification of novel therapeutic targets - Evaluation of antifungal efficacy. APPROACH Multi-modal imaging-compatible in vivo mouse models to follow onset, disease progression and antifungal treatment effects for three different fungal infections, complemented with standard endpoint readouts. - Invasive aspergillosis - Pulmonary and cerebral cryptococcosis - Catheter or mucosal-related candida spp. biofilm CONCLUSION Our innovative longitudinal non-invasive imaging approach reduces the number of animals needed and variability by following the same animal over time using multiple imaging techniques (micro-CT, MRI, magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), bioluminescence, FCFM) with high power, accurate and reliable quantifications.