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Effective killing of the human pathogen Candida albicans by a specific inhibitor of non-essential mitotic kinesin Kip1p.

ABSTRACT: Kinesins from the bipolar (Kinesin-5) family are conserved in eukaryotic organisms and play critical roles during the earliest stages of mitosis to mediate spindle pole body separation and formation of a bipolar mitotic spindle. To date, genes encoding bipolar kinesins have been reported to be essential in all organisms studied. We report the characterization of CaKip1p, the sole member of this family in the human pathogenic yeast Candida albicans. C. albicans Kip1p appears to localize to the mitotic spindle and loss of CaKip1p function interferes with normal progression through mitosis. Inducible excision of CaKIP1 revealed phenotypes unique to C. albicans, including viable homozygous Cakip1 mutants and an aberrant spindle morphology in which multiple spindle poles accumulate in close proximity to each other. Expression of the C. albicans Kip1 motor domain in Escherichia coli produced a protein with microtubule-stimulated ATPase activity that was inhibited by an aminobenzothiazole (ABT) compound in an ATP-competitive fashion. This inhibition results in 'rigor-like', tight association with microtubules in vitro. Upon treatment of C. albicans cells with the ABT compound, cells were killed, and terminal phenotype analysis revealed an aberrant spindle morphology similar to that induced by loss of the CaKIP1 gene. The ABT compound discovered is the first example of a fungal spindle inhibitor targeted to a mitotic kinesin. Our results also show that the non-essential nature and implementation of the bipolar motor in C. albicans differs from that seen in other organisms, and suggest that inhibitors of a non-essential mitotic kinesin may offer promise as cidal agents for antifungal drug discovery.

SUBMITTER: Chua PR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1976386 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Effective killing of the human pathogen Candida albicans by a specific inhibitor of non-essential mitotic kinesin Kip1p.

Chua Penelope R PR Roof David M DM Lee Yan Y Sakowicz Roman R Clarke David D Pierce Dan D Stephens Thoryn T Hamilton Matthew M Morgan Brad B Morgans David D Nakai Takashi T Tomasi Adam A Maxon Mary E ME

Molecular microbiology 20070615 2

Kinesins from the bipolar (Kinesin-5) family are conserved in eukaryotic organisms and play critical roles during the earliest stages of mitosis to mediate spindle pole body separation and formation of a bipolar mitotic spindle. To date, genes encoding bipolar kinesins have been reported to be essential in all organisms studied. We report the characterization of CaKip1p, the sole member of this family in the human pathogenic yeast Candida albicans. C. albicans Kip1p appears to localize to the mi ...[more]

PMID: 17573815

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Project description:The ability to resist copper toxicity is important for microbial pathogens to survive attack by innate immune cells. A sur7? mutant of the fungal pathogen Candida albicans exhibits decreased virulence that correlates with increased sensitivity to copper, as well as defects in other stress responses and morphogenesis. Previous studies indicated that copper kills sur7? cells by a mechanism distinct from the known resistance pathways involving the Crp1 copper exporter or the Cup1 metallothionein. Since Sur7 resides in punctate plasma membrane domains known as MCC/eisosomes, we examined overexpression of SUR7 and found that it rescued the copper sensitivity of a mutant that fails to form MCC/eisosomes (pil1? lsp1?), indicating that these domains act to facilitate Sur7 function. Genetic screening identified new copper-sensitive mutants, the strongest of which were similar to sur7? in having altered plasma membranes due to defects in membrane trafficking, cortical actin, and morphogenesis (rvs161?, rvs167?, and arp2? arp3?). Consistent with the mutants having altered plasma membrane organization, they were all more readily permeabilized by copper, which is known to bind phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylethanolamine and cause membrane damage. Although these phospholipids are normally localized to the intracellular leaflet of the plasma membrane, their exposure on the surface of the copper-sensitive mutants was indicated by increased susceptibility to membrane damaging agents that bind to these phospholipids. Increased copper sensitivity was also detected for a drs2? mutant, which lacks a phospholipid flippase that is involved in maintaining phospholipid asymmetry. Copper binds phosphatidylserine with very high affinity, and deleting CHO1 to prevent phosphatidylserine synthesis rescued the copper sensitivity of sur7? cells, confirming a major role for phosphatidylserine in copper sensitivity. These results highlight how proper plasma membrane architecture protects fungal pathogens from copper and attack by the immune system, thereby opening up new avenues for therapeutic intervention.

Dataset Information

Effective killing of the human pathogen Candida albicans by a specific inhibitor of non-essential mitotic kinesin Kip1p.

Publications

Effective killing of the human pathogen Candida albicans by a specific inhibitor of non-essential mitotic kinesin Kip1p.

Similar Datasets

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