Quantification of phagocytosis of Aspergillus conidia by macrophages using a novel antibody-independent assay

The pathogenic mould Aspergillus fumigatus can cause severe infections in immunocompromised patients. Phagocytosis of inhaled conidia is an early and crucial event in the defense of A. fumigatus infections. Here we describe a novel antibody-independent assay for quantification of phagocytosis, that in this study has been applied to different Aspergillus species, but that is in principle suitable for many fungi. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.