Fungal—Host Interactions Based on Protein Interaction Experiments

Fungal pathogenesis involves several molecular mechanisms, with adhesion to host tissues being a key step that occurs through interactions between host and fungal molecules at an early stage of infection. The functions of these proteins can be better understood through protein expression analysis. However, there is a lack of commercially available antibodies or recombinant proteins against fungal molecules. Moreover, the functions of several fungal molecules remain unknown, highlighting the necessity of protein analysis to identify target proteins and elucidate their roles. Techniques such as pull-down assay, co-immunoprecipitation, and surface plasmon resonance assay are commonly used for protein interaction analysis. In this review, we describe a screening method for identifying fungal pathogenic factors using protein interaction analysis methods to investigate the interaction between the pathogenic yeast Trichosporon asahii and human molecules.