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ERG3 and ERG11 genes are critical for the pathogenesis of Candida albicans during the oral mucosal infection.

ABSTRACT: The hyphal development of Candida albicans (C. albicans) has been considered as an essential virulent factor for host cell damage. However, the missing link between hyphae and virulence of C. albicans is also been discovered. Here, we identified that the null mutants of ERG3 and ERG11, two key genes in ergosterol biosynthesis pathway, can form typical hyphae but failed to cause the oral mucosal infection in vitro and in vivo for the first time. In particular, the erg3?/? and erg11?/? strains co-cultured with epithelial cells significantly reduced the adhesion, damage, and cytokine (interleukin-1? (IL-1?)) production, whereas the invasion was not affected in vitro. Importantly, they were incapable of extensive hyphal invasion, formation of micro-abscesses, and tongue epithelium damage compared to wild type due to the decrease of the colonization and epithelial infection area in a murine oropharyngeal candidiasis model. The fluconazole (FLC), an antifungal targeted at ergosterol biosynthesis, relieved the epithelial infection of C. albicansin vitro and in vivo even under non-growth inhibitory dosage confirming the virulent contribution of ergosterol biosynthesis pathway. The erg3?/? and erg11?/? strains were cleared by macrophages similar to wild type, whereas their virulence factors including agglutinin-like sequence 1 (Als1), secreted aspartyl proteinase 6 (Sap6), and hyphal wall protein-1 (Hwp1) were significantly reduced indicated that the non-toxicity might not result from the change on immune tolerance but the defective virulence. The incapacity of erg3?/? and erg11?/? in epithelial infection highlights the contribution of ergosterol biosynthesis pathway to C. albicans pathogenesis and fluconazole can not only eliminate the fungal pathogens but also reduced their virulence even at low dosage.

SUBMITTER: Zhou Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5944255 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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ERG3 and ERG11 genes are critical for the pathogenesis of Candida albicans during the oral mucosal infection.

Zhou Yujie Y Liao Min M Zhu Chengguang C Hu Yao Y Tong Ting T Peng Xian X Li Mingyun M Feng Mingye M Cheng Lei L Ren Biao B Zhou Xuedong X

International journal of oral science 20180316 2

The hyphal development of Candida albicans (C. albicans) has been considered as an essential virulent factor for host cell damage. However, the missing link between hyphae and virulence of C. albicans is also been discovered. Here, we identified that the null mutants of ERG3 and ERG11, two key genes in ergosterol biosynthesis pathway, can form typical hyphae but failed to cause the oral mucosal infection in vitro and in vivo for the first time. In particular, the erg3Δ/Δ and erg11Δ/Δ strains co- ...[more]

PMID: 29555898

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Project description:Infectious complications are a common cause of morbidity and mortality in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy due to increased risk of oral and gastrointestinal candidiasis, candidemia and septicemia. Interactions between C. albicans and endogenous mucosal bacteria are important in understanding the mechanisms of invasive infection. We published a mouse intravenous chemotherapy model that recapitulates oral and intestinal mucositis, and myelosuppression in patients receiving 5-fluorouracil. We used this model to study the influence of C. albicans on the mucosal bacterial microbiome and compared global community changes in the oral and intestinal mucosa of the same mice. We validated 16S rRNA gene sequencing data by qPCR, in situ hybridization and culture approaches. Mice receiving both 5Fu and C. albicans had an endogenous bacterial overgrowth on the oral but not the small intestinal mucosa. C. albicans infection was associated with loss of mucosal bacterial diversity in both sites with indigenous Stenotrophomonas, Alphaproteobacteria and Enterococcus species dominating the small intestinal, and Enterococcus species dominating the oral mucosa. Both immunosuppression and Candida infection contributed to changes in the oral microbiota. Enterococci isolated from mice with oropharyngeal candidiasis were implicated in degrading the epithelial junction protein E-cadherin and increasing the permeability of the oral epithelial barrier in vitro. Importantly, depletion of these organisms with antibiotics in vivo attenuated oral mucosal E-cadherin degradation and C. albicans invasion without affecting fungal burdens, indicating that bacterial community changes represent overt dysbiosis. Our studies demonstrate a complex interaction between C. albicans, the resident mucosal bacterial microbiota and the host environment in pathogenesis. We shed significant new light on the role of C. albicans in shaping resident bacterial communities and driving mucosal dysbiosis.

Project description:Abstract Poster session 3, September 23, 2022, 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM Objective To determine the profile of fluconazole-resistant Candida isolates (FRCS) and the proportion of erg11 gene mutation in fluconazole-resistant C. albicans (FRCA) isolates Methods After getting approval from ethics the study was conducted on 150 isolates of FRCS obtained from patients admitted to our tertiary care hospital from September 2019 to December 2021. All the isolates were revived onto Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) and identified by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Fluconazole-resistance was detected by VITEK 2 automated system. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of FRCA isolates were extracted by QIAamp DNA Mini kit (Qiagen-51 304, Hilden, Germany) as per manufacturer's instruction. A single primer pair targeting the nucleotide sequence from 1067 to 1576 bp region of erg11 gene was used for amplification as per Xu et al. with minor modification and 500 bp polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products were observed by gel electrophoresis. A positive clinical isolate of FRCA was used as a positive control. The PCR products were purified and subjected to Sanger sequencing with an ABI PRISM DNA analyzer (Applied Biosystems) and mutations were detected by using Mega (version 7) software by comparing with the published GenBank sequence AF153844.1 of C. albicans strain ATCC 28516. Categorical variables were expressed in percentages and continuous variables were expressed in mean (average). Results Out of the total of 150 FRCS, the most common fluconazole-resistant agent of candidiasis was C. auris, which was isolated from 60 (40%) cases followed by 24 (16%) isolates of C. glabrata, 19 (12.7%) isolates of C. krusei, 18 (12%) isolates of C. parapsilosis, 17 (11.3%) isolates of C. albicans, 10 (6.7%) isolates of C. tropicalis, and only two (1.3%) isolates of C. guilliermondii. Among these 17 FRCA isolates, 9 isolates were obtained from genital swabs, 5 from blood, and a single isolate each from the perianal swab, ear swab, and sputum. A total of 12 (70.6%) out of 17 FRCA isolates yielded 500 bp region in erg11 gene. Gel electrophoresis image of PCR products of erg11 gene is depicted in Figure 1. Sequencing of these products detected a single missense mutation A1309G (V437I) in one FRCA isolate. Most of the FRCA isolates had an average of 4 silent mutations (observed in 6 isolates) and a single isolate had 6 silent mutations. A total of 8 different silent mutations were observed among FRCA isolates T1296C (83.3%), C1203T (66.7%), A1440G (66.7%), C1302T (50%), T1470C (50%), T1140C (25%), T1110C (16.7%), and T1284C (8.3%). Conclusion C. auris was the most common fluconazole resistant isolate observed, followed by C. glabrata, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis, C. albicans, C. tropicalis, and C. guilliermondii. There were many silent mutations observed in erg11 gene of FRCA isolates and detected only a single missense mutation (V437I). Fluconazole-resistant in FRCA isolates may be due to mechanisms other than the studied one in our region.

Project description:Background and purposeCandidiasis is referred to a group of superficial and deep-tissue fungal infections often caused by Candida albicans. The superficial infections affect the oral, oropharynx, esophagus, and vaginal mucosa. The treatment of choice for these infections is the use of azoles, such as fluconazole. However, the increased use of these antifungal agents has led to the emergence of azole-resistant isolates of C. albicans. Different mechanisms have been suggested for the development of drug resistance, such as mutations in the encoding gene ERG11. Mutations in ERG11 result in changes in the ERG11p spatial construction and reduce the affinity between the protein and azole. This study aimed to determine the susceptibility profile of C. albicans clinical isolates to fluconazole using microdilution method. The present research was also targeted toward the detection of mutations that might be related to fluconazole resistance by the amplification and sequencing of ERG11 gene.Materials and methodsThis study was conducted on a total of 216 clinical isolates obtained from Mashhad, Isfahan, and Tehran cities in Iran, during 2016-2018. The clinical isolates were identified using molecular techniques. Furthermore, minimum inhibitory concentration (MICs) was determined according to the clinical and laboratory standards institute M27-A3 and M27-S4 documents. The concentration range for fluconazole was obtained as 0.063-64 μg/ml. In the resistant strains, ERG11 genes were amplified by specific primers. Subsequently, cycle sequencing reactions were performed on purified polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products in forward and reverse directions. Finally, the results were analyzed by MEGA (version 7) and Gene Runner software (version 6.5.30).ResultsOut of 216 strains, 100 (46.3%) species were identified as C. albicans. The MIC values for fluconazole had a range of 0.125-16 μg/ml with the MIC50 and MIC90 values of 0.5 and 1 μg/ml, respectively. Totally, 41 nucleotide changes were detected among 4 resistant isolates. In this regard, 4 out of 41 mutations in codons caused changes in ERG11p; however, these mutations did not lead to fluconazole resistance.ConclusionFluconazole resistance among clinical isolates is not merely due to the changes in ERG11p. This resistance may be also related to some other mechanisms, such as the prevention of the intracellular accumulation of the antifungal agent and alteration of the target enzyme to diminish drug binding.

Dataset Information

ERG3 and ERG11 genes are critical for the pathogenesis of Candida albicans during the oral mucosal infection.

Publications

ERG3 and ERG11 genes are critical for the pathogenesis of Candida albicans during the oral mucosal infection.

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