AUTHOR=Bao Jialing , Mo Biying , An Guozhen , Luo Jian , Poncz Mortimer , Pan Guoqing , Li Tian , Zhou Zeyang TITLE=Von Willebrand Factor Facilitates Intravascular Dissemination of Microsporidia Encephalitozoon hellem JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology VOLUME=11 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2021.694957 DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2021.694957 ISSN=2235-2988 ABSTRACT=
Microsporidia are a group of spore-forming, fungus-related pathogens that can infect both invertebrates and vertebrates including humans. The primary infection site is usually digestive tract, but systemic infections occur as well and cause damages to organs such as lung, brain, and liver. The systemic spread of microsporidia may be intravascular, requiring attachment and colonization in the presence of shear stress. Von Willebrand Factor (VWF) is a large multimeric intravascular protein and the key attachment sites for platelets and coagulation factors. Here in this study, we investigated the interactions between VWF and microsporidia