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Candida albicans secreted aspartyl proteinases in virulence and pathogenesis.

ABSTRACT: Candida albicans is the most common fungal pathogen of humans and has developed an extensive repertoire of putative virulence mechanisms that allows successful colonization and infection of the host under suitable predisposing conditions. Extracellular proteolytic activity plays a central role in Candida pathogenicity and is produced by a family of 10 secreted aspartyl proteinases (Sap proteins). Although the consequences of proteinase secretion during human infections is not precisely known, in vitro, animal, and human studies have implicated the proteinases in C. albicans virulence in one of the following seven ways: (i) correlation between Sap production in vitro and Candida virulence, (ii) degradation of human proteins and structural analysis in determining Sap substrate specificity, (iii) association of Sap production with other virulence processes of C. albicans, (iv) Sap protein production and Sap immune responses in animal and human infections, (v) SAP gene expression during Candida infections, (vi) modulation of C. albicans virulence by aspartyl proteinase inhibitors, and (vii) the use of SAP-disrupted mutants to analyze C. albicans virulence. Sap proteins fulfill a number of specialized functions during the infective process, which include the simple role of digesting molecules for nutrient acquisition, digesting or distorting host cell membranes to facilitate adhesion and tissue invasion, and digesting cells and molecules of the host immune system to avoid or resist antimicrobial attack by the host. We have critically discussed the data relevant to each of these seven criteria, with specific emphasis on how this proteinase family could contribute to Candida virulence and pathogenesis.

SUBMITTER: Naglik JR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC193873 | biostudies-other | 2003 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Candida albicans secreted aspartyl proteinases in virulence and pathogenesis.

Naglik Julian R JR Challacombe Stephen J SJ Hube Bernhard B

Microbiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR 20030901 3

Candida albicans is the most common fungal pathogen of humans and has developed an extensive repertoire of putative virulence mechanisms that allows successful colonization and infection of the host under suitable predisposing conditions. Extracellular proteolytic activity plays a central role in Candida pathogenicity and is produced by a family of 10 secreted aspartyl proteinases (Sap proteins). Although the consequences of proteinase secretion during human infections is not precisely known, in ...[more]

PMID: 12966142

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Project description:UNLABELLED:Vaginal inflammation (vaginitis) is the most common disease caused by the human-pathogenic fungus Candida albicans. Secretory aspartyl proteinases (Sap) are major virulence traits of C. albicans that have been suggested to play a role in vaginitis. To dissect the mechanisms by which Sap play this role, Sap2, a dominantly expressed member of the Sap family and a putative constituent of an anti-Candida vaccine, was used. Injection of full-length Sap2 into the mouse vagina caused local neutrophil influx and accumulation of the inflammasome-dependent interleukin-1β (IL-1β) but not of inflammasome-independent tumor necrosis factor alpha. Sap2 could be replaced by other Sap, while no inflammation was induced by the vaccine antigen, the N-terminal-truncated, enzymatically inactive tSap2. Anti-Sap2 antibodies, in particular Fab from a human combinatorial antibody library, inhibited or abolished the inflammatory response, provided the antibodies were able, like the Sap inhibitor Pepstatin A, to inhibit Sap enzyme activity. The same antibodies and Pepstatin A also inhibited neutrophil influx and cytokine production stimulated by C. albicans intravaginal injection, and a mutant strain lacking SAP1, SAP2, and SAP3 was unable to cause vaginal inflammation. Sap2 induced expression of activated caspase-1 in murine and human vaginal epithelial cells. Caspase-1 inhibition downregulated IL-1β and IL-18 production by vaginal epithelial cells, and blockade of the IL-1β receptor strongly reduced neutrophil influx. Overall, the data suggest that some Sap, particularly Sap2, are proinflammatory proteins in vivo and can mediate the inflammasome-dependent, acute inflammatory response of vaginal epithelial cells to C. albicans. These findings support the notion that vaccine-induced or passively administered anti-Sap antibodies could contribute to control vaginitis. IMPORTANCE:Candidal vaginitis is an acute inflammatory disease that affects many women of fertile age, with no definitive cure and, in its recurrent forms, causing true devastation of quality of life. Unraveling the fungal factors causing inflammation is important to be able to devise novel tools to fight the disease. In an experimental murine model, we have discovered that aspartyl proteinases, particularly Sap2, may cause the same inflammatory signs of vaginitis caused by the fungus and that anti-Sap antibodies and the protease inhibitor Pepstatin A almost equally inhibit Sap- and C. albicans-induced inflammation. Sap-induced vaginitis is an early event during vaginal infection, is uncoupled from fungal growth, and requires Sap and caspase-1 enzymatic activities to occur, suggesting that Sap or products of Sap activity activate an inflammasome sensor of epithelial cells. Our data support the notion that anti-Sap antibodies could help control the essence of candidal vaginitis, i.e., the inflammatory response.

Project description:Analyzing culture supernatants of yeast and hyphal cells of Candida albicans by mass spectrometry, we found two close homologues of pathogenesis-related (PR-) 1 proteins, Rbe1p and Rbt4p, in the secretome of this human pathogen. By sequence homology, we assigned three yet not characterized open reading frames, ORF19.6200, ORF19.2787 and ORF19.2336, in addition to Rbe1p and Rbt4p to a novel family of proteins. Correspondent with our secretome analysis RBE1 was expressed in blastospores and opaque cells, whereas transcription was down-regulated in hyphae. On the contrary, RBT4 was up-regulated in hyphae and down-regulated in opaque cells. Remarkably, transcription of RBT4 and RBE1 was each up-regulated in blastospores of M-bM-^HM-^Frbe1 or hyphae of M-bM-^HM-^Frbt4 deletion strains, respectively, indicating a compensatory function of both proteins. In a M-bM-^HM-^Frbe1/M-bM-^HM-^Frbt4 double deletion strain, genome-wide transcriptional analysis showed differential transcription of a limited set of genes that are also implicated in virulence and oxidative stress response. In this context, deletion of RBE1 or RBT4 in a clinical C. albicans isolate resulted in a moderate but significant attenuation in virulence in a mouse model for disseminated candidiasis. However, a synergistic effect was observed in the M-bM-^HM-^Frbe1/M-bM-^HM-^Frbt4 double deletion strain, where virulence was strongly affected. Furthermore, the double deletion strain showed increased sensitivity to attack by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (neutrophils). Therfore, our data suggest that the crucial contribution of both C. albicans pathogenesis-related proteins for in vivo virulence results at least partially from reduced survival in phagocytes. Experiments were performed under blastospore (YPD) as well as hyphae (alpha-MEM)-inducing conditions. In total, three biological replicates were performed for each condition. All experiments were performed as dye swaps. Thus, in total six arrays have been hybridzed for each comparison (alpha-MEM and YPD, respectively). Hybridization experiments included a reference strain (C. albicans SC5314) and a double deletion strain (C. albicans MRC27). The array included one technical replicate of each probe.

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Candida albicans secreted aspartyl proteinases in virulence and pathogenesis.

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Candida albicans secreted aspartyl proteinases in virulence and pathogenesis.

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