Rudolf-Virchow-Zentrum für Experimentelle Biomedizin. 35 Universität Würzburg. 36 Josef-Schneider-Straße 2, Haus D15. D -97080 Würzburg 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 VISUAL ABSTRACT 46 Quantitative light sheet fluorescence microscopy to dissect local host-pathogen interactions 47 ABSTRACT 51Aspergillus fumigatus is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that can cause life-threatening 52 invasive lung infections in immunodeficient patients. The cellular and molecular processes of 53 infection during onset, establishment and progression are highly complex and depend on 54 both fungal attributes and the immune status of the host. Therefore, preclinical animal 55 models are paramount to investigate and gain better insight into the infection process. Yet, 56 despite their extensive use, commonly employed murine models of invasive pulmonary 57 aspergillosis are not well understood due to analytical limitations. Here we present 58 quantitative light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) to describe fungal growth and the 59 local immune response in whole lungs at cellular resolution within its anatomical context. We 60 analyzed three very common murine models of pulmonary aspergillosis based on 61 immunosuppression with corticosteroids, chemotherapy-induced leukopenia or 62 myeloablative irradiation. LSFM uncovered distinct architectures of fungal growth and 63 degrees of tissue invasion in each model. Furthermore, LSFM revealed the spatial 64 distribution, interaction and activation of two key immune cell populations in antifungal 65 defense: alveolar macrophages and polymorphonuclear neutrophils. Interestingly, the 66 patterns of fungal growth correlated with the detected effects of the immunosuppressive 67 regimens on the local immune cell populations. Moreover, LSFM demonstrates that the 68 commonly used intranasal route of spore administration did not result in the desired intra-69 alveolar deposition, as more than 60% of fungal growth occurred outside of the alveolar 70 space. Hence, LSFM allows for more rigorous characterization of murine models of invasive 71 pulmonary aspergillosis and pinpointing their strengths and limitations. 72
IMPORTANCE 73The use of animal models of infection is essential to advance our understanding of complex 74 host-pathogen interactions that take place during Aspergillus fumigatus lung infections. As in 75 the case of humans, mice need to be immunosuppressed to become susceptible to invasive 76 pulmonary aspergillosis, the most serious infection caused by A. fumigatus. There are 77 several immunosuppressive regimens that are routinely used to investigate fungal growth 78 and/or immune responses in murine models of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). 79However, the precise consequences that each immunosuppressive model has on the local 80 immune populations and for fungal growth are not completely understood. Here we 81 employed light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) to analyze whole lungs at cellular 82 resolution, to pin down the scenario commonly used IPA models. Our results will be ...