The survival of pathogenic fungi in the host after adhesion and invasion depends on their ability to obtain nutrients, including the transition metal copper, which performs several structural and catalytic functions due to its oxide-reducing potential. Although essential, this ion can be toxic when in excess. During the infectious process, the host manipulates copper levels in order to contain the infection and microorganisms may be subject to metal deprivation or intoxication. Copper homeostasis is maintained by membrane transporters and other proteins regulated by specific transcription factors and is well described in the yeast model Saccharomyces cerevisiae as well as in pathogenic species in the Aspergillus, Candida and Cryptococcus genera. Aspects of homeostatic and adaptative responses to copper availability in thermally dimorphic fungi are, however, still scarce and the few existing studies came to the literature recently. In this review, we sought to summarize the mechanisms underlying copper homeostasis already described in human pathogenic fungi and, additionally, investigate the conservation of those mechanisms in dimorphic fungi by employing in silico analysis.

病原真菌在粘附和入侵后在宿主体内的存活取决于它们获取营养物的能力，包括过渡金属铜，由于其氧化物还原潜力，过渡金属铜具有多种结构和催化功能。虽然必不可少，但这种离子过量时可能有毒。在感染过程中，宿主操纵铜水平以控制感染，并且微生物可能遭受金属剥夺或中毒。铜稳态由膜转运蛋白和其他受特定转录因子调节的蛋白质维持，在酵母模型酿酒酵母以及曲霉菌、念珠菌和隐球菌中的致病菌种中都有很好的描述属。然而，在热二态真菌中对铜可用性的稳态和适应性反应方面仍然很少，并且最近很少有现有研究出现在文献中。在这篇综述中，我们试图总结人类病原真菌中已经描述的铜稳态的潜在机制，此外，通过计算机分析研究这些机制在双态真菌中的保护作用。