cCryptococcus neoformans is a fungal pathogen that causes pulmonary infections, which may progress into life-threatening meningitis. In commonly used mouse models of C. neoformans infections, fungal cells are not contained in the lungs, resulting in dissemination to the brain. We have previously reported the generation of an engineered C. neoformans strain (C. neoformans ⌬gcs1) which can be contained in lung granulomas in the mouse model and have shown that granuloma formation is dependent upon the enzyme sphingosine kinase 1 (SK1) and its product, sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P). In this study, we have used four mouse models, CBA/J and C57BL6/J (both immunocompetent), Tg26 (an isogenic strain of strain CBA/J lacking T and NK cells), and SK ؊/؊ (an isogenic strain of strain C57BL6/J lacking SK1), to investigate how the granulomatous response and SK1-S1P pathway are interrelated during C. neoformans infections. S1P and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) levels were significantly elevated in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of all mice infected with C. neoformans ⌬gcs1 but not in mice infected with the C. neoformans wild type. SK1؊/؊ mice did not show elevated levels of S1P or MCP-1. Primary neutrophils isolated from SK1 ؊/؊ mice showed impaired antifungal activity that could be restored by the addition of extracellular S1P. In addition, high levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha were found in the mice infected with C. neoformans ⌬gcs1 in comparison to the levels found in mice infected with the C. neoformans wild type, and their levels were also dependent on the SK1-S1P pathway. Taken together, these results suggest that the SK1-S1P pathway promotes host defense against C. neoformans infections by regulating cytokine levels, promoting extracellular killing by phagocytes, and generating a granulomatous response. C ryptococcosis is a serious fungal infection in immunocompromised hosts that results in deadly meningitis once fungi disseminate to the central nervous system (CNS) (1-3). Cryptococcus neoformans is a common environmental fungus, and exposure is thought to be extremely prevalent but rarely progresses to disease in healthy individuals (4-6). Most human hosts are able to combat and contain C. neoformans in the lungs to prevent spread to the CNS. A successful immune response results in the killing of C. neoformans and the formation of a granuloma in the lungs, which is thought to prevent C. neoformans from accessing the vasculature and causing infection of the CNS. Under conditions of immune suppression, this response does not occur successfully and C. neoformans survives within macrophages, which are thought to transport C. neoformans across the blood-brain barrier and lead to life-threatening meningitis (3, 5). Although significant work has been done to elucidate the role of the host defense during early pulmonary infection, much work regarding the development of a granuloma in response to C. neoformans remains to be done (7,8).Despite the induction of proinflammatory cytokines in commonly used mouse mode...