Limited ERG11 Mutations Identified in Isolates of Candida auris Directly Contribute to Reduced Azole Susceptibility.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Healey KR
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6153782 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Limited <i>ERG11</i> Mutations Identified in Isolates of Candida auris Directly Contribute to Reduced Azole Susceptibility.
Healey Kelley R KR Kordalewska Milena M Jiménez Ortigosa Cristina C Singh Ashutosh A Berrío Indira I Chowdhary Anuradha A Perlin David S DS
Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy 20180924 10
Multiple Erg11 amino acid substitutions were identified in clinical isolates of <i>Candida auris</i> originating from India and Colombia. Elevated azole MICs were detected in <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> upon heterologous expression of <i>C. auris</i><i>ERG11</i> alleles that encoded for Y132F or K143R substitutions; however, expression of alleles encoding I466M, Y501H, or other clade-defined amino acid differences yielded susceptible MICs. Similar to other <i>Candida</i> species, specific <i ...[more]
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Project description:Candida auris is an emerging multidrug-resistant yeast that can cause serious invasive infections. The accurate and rapid assessment of antifungal resistance is important for effective patient management. A novel and highly accurate diagnostic platform was established for the rapid identification of ERG11 mutations conferring azole resistance and FKS1 mutations associated with echinocandin resistance in C. auris Using allele-specific molecular beacons and DNA melting curve analysis following asymmetric PCR, a duplex ERG11 assay and a simplex FKS1 HS1 assay were developed to identify the most prominent resistance-associated mutations (Y132F and K143R in ERG11; S639F in FKS1 HS1) within 2 h. Assays were validated by testing a panel of 94 C. auris clinical isolates in a blind manner. The molecular diagnostic results from the assays were 100% concordant with DNA sequencing results. This platform has the potential to overcome the deficiencies of existing in vitro susceptibility-based assays to identify azole- and/or echinocandin-resistant C. auris, and thus, it holds promise as a surrogate diagnostic method to direct antifungal therapy more effectively.
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Project description:Microarray was used to analyze azole resistance of Candida glabrata oropharyngeal isolates from 7 hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients receiving fluconazole prophylaxis. Transcriptional profiling of the sequential-paired clinical isolates by microarray revealed 19 genes upregulated in the majority of resistant isolates compared to their paired-susceptible isolates. All seven resistant isolates had greater than two fold upregulation of CgPDR1, a master transcriptional regulator of PDR network, and all 7 resistant isolates showed upregulation of known CgPDR1-target genes. The altered transcriptome can be explained in part by the observation that all 7 resistant isolates had acquired a single nonsynonymous mutation in their CgPDR1 ORF. Four mutations occurred in the regulatory domain (L280P, L344S, G348A, S391L) and one in the activation domain (G943S) while two mutations (N764I, R772I) occurred in an undefined region. Association of azole resistance and the CgPDR1 mutations was investigated in the same genetic background by introducing the CgPDR1 sequences from one sensitive and five resistant isolates into a laboratory azole-sensitive strain (cgpdr1) via integrative transformation. The cgpdr1 strain was restored to wild-type fluconazole susceptibility when transformed with CgPDR1 from the susceptible isolate but became resistant when transformed with CgPDR1 from the resistant isolates. However, despite the identical genetic background, upregulation of CgPDR1 and CgPDR1-target genes varied between the 5 transformants, independent of the domain locations in which the mutations occurred. In sum, gain-of-function mutations in CgPDR1 not only contributed to the clinical azole resistance but different mutations had varying degrees of impact on the CgPDR1-target genes.
2010-07-07 | GSE21352 | GEO
Project description:Correlating antifungal Azole drug resistance and mis-sense mutations of ERG11 has been paradoxical in pathogenic yeast Candida albicans. Amino acid substitutions (single or multiple) are frequent on ERG11, a membrane bound enzyme of Ergosterol biosynthesis pathway. Presence or absence of mutations can not sufficiently predict susceptibility. To analyze role of mis-sense mutations on Azole resistance energetically optimized, structurally validated homology model of wild C.albicans ERG11 using eukaryotic template was generated. A Composite Search Approach is proposed to identify vital residues for interaction at 3D active site. Structural analysis of catalytic groove, dynamics of substrate access channels and proximity of Heme prosthetic group characterized ERG11 active site. Several mis-sense mutations of ERG11 reported in C.albicans clinical isolates were selected through a stringent criterion and modeled. ERG11 mutants subsequently subjected to a four tier comparative biophysical analysis. This study indicates (i) critical interactions occur with residues at anterior part of 3D catalytic groove and substitution of these vital residues alters local geometry causing considerable change in catalytic pocket dimension. (ii) Substitutions of vital residues lead to confirmed resistance in clinical isolates that may be resultant to changed geometry of catalytic pocket. (iii)These substitutions also impart significant energetic changes on C.albicans ERG11 and (iv) include detectable dynamic fluctuations on the mutants. (v)Mis-sense mutations on the vital residues of the active site and at the vicinity of Heme prosthetic group are less frequent compared to rest of the enzyme. This large scale mutational study can aid to characterize the mutants in clinical isolates.
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