Friend or foe: using systems biology to elucidate interactions between fungi and their hosts

Modelling the networks sustaining the fruitful coexistence between fungi and their mammalian hosts is becoming increasingly important to control emerging fungal pathogens. In a ‘systems biology’ perspective, the microbiota and host should be seen as an ecosystem, and disease considered as an alteration of the equilibrium. This review addresses host–fungus interaction with a special focus on systems biology approaches to investigate the mechanisms developed by Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus to circumvent host immune responses during fungal infections. Such genome-wide integrative approaches hold the promise to significantly improve our ability to understand which fungal traits can be considered potential threats and the regulatory networks involved in immune subversion.