Polymorphic exocellular protease expression in clinical isolates of Trichophyton tonsurans.
Ключови думи
Резюме
Tinea capitis continues to be an overwhelmingly prevalent disease in children. Despite the fact that it was recognized over a century ago, the factors that dictate the divergent clinical presentations seen with tinea capitis (e.g., carrier state, chronic non-inflammatory infection, acute severely-inflammatory infection) remain unknown. Given the pathogenic role of exocellular proteases in dermatophyte infections and their potential immunogenic role, this investigation was designed to characterize strain-specific variability in fungal protease expression and activity in Trichophyton tonsurans isolates identified from children with tinea capitis.