Overview:

I am a Research Fellow working with Prof. Neil Gow at the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology. I have always been interested in understanding how fungi senses and responds to changes in its environment. I’m currently working in understanding how a sugar molecule found in the cell wall of fungi, called chitin, protects fungal pathogens against stressful conditions such as antifungal treatment. Furthermore, I’m interested in dissecting the molecular mechanisms by which fungi grow and tolerate antifungal drug treatment and how these responses shape the immune response and drive antimicrobial resistance in different environments.

Key publications:

Cell biology of Candida albicans–host interactions Dantas et al. Curr.Opin.Microbiol. 2016 34:111-118

Peroxide sensing and signaling in the Sporothrix schenckii complex: an in silico analysis to uncover putative mechanisms regulating the Hog1 and AP-1 like signaling pathways  Ortega et al. MedMycol 2015 53(1):51-9

Oxidative Stress Responses in the Human Fungal Pathogen, Candida albicans Dantas et al. Biomolecules 2015 5(1):142-65

Thioredoxin Regulates Multiple Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Signaling Pathways in Candida albicans Dantas et al. MCB 2010 30(19):4550-63

Oxidative stress response in Paracoccidioides brasiliensis: assessing catalase and cytochrome c peroxidase. Dantas et al. Mycol.Res 2008 112(Pt 6):747-56

Key project:

Role of chitin in Candida albicans pathogenesis and echinocandin drug resistance and tolerance