Abstract: Caspase recruitment domain-containing protein 9 (CARD9) is a member of the CARD protein family, which is a nonredundant adapter protein regulating intra-cellular signal transduction pathway through CARD-CARD interaction. CARD9 is a key signaling molecule for innate immune responses, which plays an important role in recognizing and resisting the fungi and bacteria infection. CARD9 deficiency has been reported to be associated with severe fungal diseases and chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis. The potential molecular mechanism of CARD9 in infectious diseases is reviewed in this article.

Key words: way caspase recruitment domain-containing protein, infectious diseases, innate immune, signal path