Secretion of a fungal protease represents a complement evasion mechanism in cerebral aspergillosis

Complement represents a central immune weapon in the brain, but the high lethality of cerebral aspergillosis indicates a low efficacy of the antifungal complement attack. Studies with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples derived from a patient with cerebral aspergillosis showed a degradation of complement proteins, implying that Aspergillus might produce proteases to evade their antimicrobial potency. Further investigations of this hypothesis showed that Aspergillus, when cultured in CSF to simulate growth conditions in the brain, secreted a protease that can cleave various complement proteins. Aspergillus fumigatus, the most frequent cause of cerebral aspergillosis, destroyed complement activity more efficiently than other Aspergillus species. The degradation of complement in CSF resulted in a drastic reduction of the capacity to opsonize fungal hyphae. Furthermore, the Aspergillus-derived protease could diminish the amount of complement receptor CR3, a surface molecule to mediate eradication of opsonized pathogens, on granulocytes and microglia. The lack of these prerequisites caused a significant decrease in phagocytosis of primary microglia. Additional studies implied that the complement-degrading activity shares many characteristics with the previously described alkaline protease Alp1.To improve the current therapy for cerebral aspergillosis, we tried to regain the antifungal effects of complement by repressing the secretion of this degrading activity. Supplementation of CSF with nitrogen sources rescued the complement proteins and abolished any cleavage. Glutamine or arginine are of special interest for this purpose since they represent endogenous substances in the CNS and might be included in a future supportive therapy to reduce the high lethality of cerebral aspergillosis.