Author(s)

Edith Vermeulen¹, Sebastien Carpentier², Olaf Kniemeyer³, Machteld Sillen¹, Johan Maertens^1,4, Katrien Lagrou^1,5*

¹Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
²Facility for Systems Biology Based Mass Spectrometry, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
³Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology—Hans Knoell Institute (HKI), Molecular and Applied Microbiology, Jena, Germany.
⁴Department of Microbiology and Immunology and UZ Leuven, Clinical Department of Hematology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
⁵Department of Microbiology and Immunology and UZ Leuven, Clinical Department of Laboratory Medicine and National Reference Center for Mycosis, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

Background: Azole-resistance is increasingly reported in Aspergillus fumigatus infections. It remains challenging to rapidly assess antifungal susceptibility to initiate the appropriate therapy. The aim of this study was to map the proteomic differences of azole-susceptible and -resistant strains. Methods: Proteomic studies were performed with ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass-spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Results: UPLC-MS/MS detected 7899 peptides, of which 1792 peptides had a significantly different abundance (p < 0.05) between resistant and susceptible strains. The discriminating proteins were identified and provide an interesting tool for future research into A. fumigatus resistance. Conclusions: UPLC-MS/MS provided proof-of-concept that the proteome of azole-resistant A. fumigatus is diverse enough to serve as a diagnostic tool.

Aspergillus fumigatus , Triazole Resistance, Proteomic, Mass Spectrometry

Vermeulen, E. , Carpentier, S. , Kniemeyer, O. , Sillen, M. , Maertens, J. and Lagrou, K. (2018) Proteomic Differences between Azole-Susceptible and -Resistant Aspergillus fumigatus Strains. Advances in Microbiology, 8, 77-99. doi: 10.4236/aim.2018.81007.