The role of cytokines and pathogen recognition molecules in fungal keratitis – Insights from human disease and animal models

► The epidemiology and clinical characteristics of fungal keratitis and its global impact on blindness and visual impairment. ► Anti-microbial defense at the ocular surface. ► Innate and adaptive immune responses during fungal keratitis. ► Potential targets for immunomodulatory therapy to limit host-cell mediated tissue damage during fungal keratitis. Fungal infections of the cornea are an important cause of blindness and visual impairment worldwide, with contact lens wear being the main risk factor in the USA and other industrialized countries, and traumatic injury being the main risk factor in developing countries. In this review, we highlight recent advances in the understanding of the host response to Aspergillus and Fusarium species in infected human corneal tissue and in mouse models of fungal keratitis.