PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Henrique AL Ribeiro AU - Luis Sordo Vieira AU - Yogesh Scindia AU - Bandita Adhikari AU - Matthew Wheeler AU - Adam Knapp AU - William Schroeder AU - Borna Mehrad AU - Reinhard Laubenbacher TI - Multiscale mechanistic modelling of the host defense in invasive aspergillosis reveals leukocyte activation and iron acquisition as drivers of infection outcome AID - 10.1101/2021.06.08.447590 DP - 2021 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 2021.06.08.447590 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/11/01/2021.06.08.447590.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/11/01/2021.06.08.447590.full AB - Aspergillus species are ubiquitous environmental molds, the spores of which are inhaled daily by most humans. Immunocompromised hosts can develop an invasive infection resulting in high mortality. There is, therefore, a pressing need for host-centric therapeutics for this infection. To address this need, we created a multi-scale computational model of the infection, focused on its interaction with the innate immune system and iron, a critical nutrient for the pathogen. The model, parameterized using published data, was found to recapitulate a wide range of biological features and was experimentally validated in vivo. Conidial swelling was identified as critical in fungal strains with high growth, whereas the siderophore secretion rate is an essential prerequisite for establishment of the infection in low-growth strains. In immunocompetent hosts, high growth, high swelling probability, and impaired leukocyte activation lead to a high conidial germination rate. Similarly, in neutropenic mice, high fungal growth was achieved through synergy between high growth rate, high swelling probability, slow leukocyte activation, and high siderophore secretion. In summary, the model reveals a small set of parameters related to fungal growth, iron acquisition, and leukocyte activation as key determinants of the fate of the infection.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.