**5. Fungal pathogenesis**

**a. Fungal adhesive mannoproteins.** The mannoproteins regulate the attachment of yeast and filamentous fungi to corneal epithelial cells. The cell wall of Candida albicans is composed mainly by the polysaccharides mannan, glycan and chitin, in this yeast the ligands proteins for the attachment cell are mannoproteins too. The presence of large quantities of mannoprotein reveals its pathogenic capability.

The outer fibrilar layer in filamentous fungi and yeast is composed by mannoprotein descri‐ bed as an external coat, which regulates the attachment; this coat is sloughed off during the invasive phase in a corneal infection.

In *Aspergillus fumigatus* keratitis have been demonstrated toll-like2 and 4 (TLR2, TLR4) cell receptors as participants in inflammatory response as key of innate immune system that triggers host defensive responses inducing interleukins IL-1β and IL-6. [9]

