HDAC genes play distinct and redundant roles in Cryptococcus neoformans virulence
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ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii H99
PROVIDER: GSE109582 | GEO | 2018/06/06
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:Cryptococcus neoformans is a human fungal pathogen responsible for fatal infections, especially in patients with a depressed immune system. Overexposure to antifungal drugs due to prolonged treatment regimens and structure-similar applications in agriculture have weakened the efficacy of current antifungals in the clinic. The rapid evolution of antifungal resistance urges the discovery of new compounds that inhibit fungal virulence factors, rather than directly killing the pathogen as alternative strategies to overcome disease and reduce selective pressure towards resistance. Recent studies, including our own, have highlighted the antimicrobial properties of natural sources, such as invertebrates, against human fungal pathogens, including C. neoformans, through virulence factor impairment. Here, we evaluated the efficacy of freshwater mussel extracts (crude and clarified) against virulence factor production (i.e., thermotolerance, melanin, capsule, and biofilm) in C. neoformans. Similarly, we demonstrated the critical potential of these extracts to increase the susceptibility of the pathogen to fluconazole across resistant strains, overcoming a globally devastating problem. Additionally, we measured the inhibitory activity of the extracts against peptidases related to fungal virulence and drug resistance. Furthermore, we integrated these phenotypic findings with quantitative proteomics profiling to define distinct signatures of each treatment and validated a new mechanism of anti-virulence action for a selected extract. By understanding the mechanisms driving the antifungal activity of mussels, we may develop innovative treatments for fungal infections lacking susceptibility to conventional drugs.
2024-01-27 | PXD043643 | Pride
Project description:In eukaryotes, inositol polyphosphates perform essential metabolic and signaling functions. Using human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans as a model, we created mutants in three inositol polyphosphates kinases: Arg1, Ipk1 and Kcs1. Each of the mutants produces a unique repertoire of inositol polyphosphates, different from the wild type strain. Comparative phenotypic and transcriptome analyses of wild type and mutant strains indicates that inositol polyphosphate PP-IP5 (IP7) is the key regulator of gene expression, fitness and virulence in C. neoformans.
2016-03-03 | GSE78824 | GEO
Project description:In eukaryotes, inositol polyphosphates perform essential metabolic and signaling functions. Using human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans as a model, we created mutants in three inositol polyphosphates kinases: Arg1, Ipk1 and Kcs1. Each of the mutants produces a unique repertoire of inositol polyphosphates, different from the wild type strain. Comparative phenotypic and transcriptome analyses of wild type and mutant strains indicates that inositol polyphosphate PP-IP5 (IP7) is the key regulator of gene expression, fitness and virulence in C. neoformans. Comparison of WT and mutants (Darg1, Dkcs1 and Dipk1) grown in broth culture in the absence of stress.
2016-03-03 | E-GEOD-78824 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Fungal pathogens are emerging threats to global health and the rise of incidence is associated with climate change and increased geographical distribution; factors also influencing host susceptibility to infection. Accurate detection and diagnosis of fungal infections is paramount to align options for rapid and effective therapeutic treatments. For improved diagnostics, the discovery and development of biomarkers presents a promising avenue; however, this approach requires a priori knowledge of markers of infection. To uncover putative novel biomarkers of disease, profiling of the host immune response and pathogen virulence factor production is indispensable. In this study, we use mass spectrometry-based proteomics to resolve the temporal and spatial proteomes of Cryptococcus neoformans infection of the spleen following a murine model of infection. Dual perspective proteome profiling defines global remodeling of the host over a time course of infection, confirming activation of immune associated proteins connected to fungal infections. Conversely, pathogen proteomes detect well-characterized C. neoformans virulence determinants, along with novel mapped patterns of pathogenesis during progression of disease. Together, our systematic approach confirms immune protection against fungal pathogens and explores the discovery of putative biomarkers from complementary biological systems for monitoring the presence and progression of cryptococcal disease.
2023-05-23 | PXD040868 | Pride
Project description:Cryptococcus neoformans is a human fungal pathogen found ubiquitously within the environment and associated with infection of primarily immunocompromised individuals. Without the activation of an effective immune response, the pathogen can survive, proliferate, and disseminate throughout the host through the action of diverse virulence factors. These virulence factors include a polysaccharide capsule to protect the fungus from phagocytosis by macrophages, melanin production to neutralize reactive oxygen species, thermotolerance to survive at human physiological temperatures, and extracellular enzymes for host tissue degradation and invasion. We previously used mass spectrometry-based proteomics to explore the production of fungal virulence factors during infection using in vitro (macrophages) and in vivo (murine) models of disease. Based on our studies, we investigated the proteome response of C. neoformans upon disruption of CipC, a virulence-associated fungal protein.
2024-10-13 | PXD056761 | Pride
Project description:Fungal diseases are critical burdens on the global healthcare system, infecting over 25% of the world’s population. For the opportunistic fungal pathogen, Cryptococcus neoformans, infection leads to cryptococcosis; a disease enabled by elaboration of sophisticated virulence factors, including polysaccharide capsule, melanin, thermotolerance, and extracellular enzymes in the presence of the host. Conversely, the host protects itself from fungal invasion by regulating and sequestering transition metals (e.g., iron, zinc, copper) important for microbial growth and survival. Building upon knowledge of zinc transport regulation at the transcriptional level, here, we explore the intricate relationship between zinc availability and fungal virulence via mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics. We observe distinct protein-level responses to zinc-limited and -excess conditions through a shift of the proteome profile towards stress response and metal acquisition, including the upregulation of the zinc transporter, ZIP1. In addition, we reveal a novel connection among zinc availability, protein folding, capsule production, and virulence through the detection of a Wos2-like ortholog in the secretome under replete conditions. Overall, we provide new biological insight into cellular remodeling at the protein level of C. neoformans under regulated zinc conditions and uncover a novel connection between zinc availability and fungal virulence. These findings support the development of new antifungal strategies focused on the enhancement of nutritional immunity within the host.
2022-02-16 | PXD023204 | Pride
Project description:HDAC genes play distinct and redundant roles in Cryptococcus neoformans virulence
| PRJNA431436 | ENA
Project description:Invasive fungal pathogens are major causes of human mortality and morbidity1,2. While numerous secreted effector proteins that reprogram innate immunity to promote virulence have been identified in pathogenic bacteria, there are no examples of analogous secreted effector proteins produced by human fungal pathogens. Cryptococcus neoformans, the most common cause of fungal meningitis and a major AIDS pathogen, induces a pathogenic type 2 response characterized by pulmonary eosinophilia and alternatively activated macrophages3-8. Here, we identify Cpl1 as an effector protein secreted by C. neoformans that drives alternative activation (also known as M2 polarization) of macrophages to enable pulmonary infection. We observed that Cpl1-enhanced macrophage polarization requires Toll-like receptor 4, best known as a receptor for bacterial endotoxin, but is also a poorly understood mediator of allergen-induced type 2 responses9-12. We show that this effect is due to Cpl1 itself and not contamination by lipopolysaccharide. Cpl1 is essential for virulence, drives polarization of interstitial macrophages in vivo, and requires type 2 cytokine signaling for its impact on infectivity. Strikingly, C. neoformans selectively associates with polarized interstitial macrophages during infection, suggesting a mechanism by which C. neoformans generates its own intracellular replication niche within the host. This work identifies a novel circuit whereby a secreted effector protein produced by a human fungal pathogen reprograms innate immunity, revealing an unexpected role for Toll-like receptor 4 in pathogenesis of infectious disease.
2022-08-12 | GSE203483 | GEO
Project description:Cryptococcus neoformans is a prevalent human fungal pathogen that must survive within various tissues in order to establish a human infection. We have identified the C. neoformans Rim101 transcription factor, a highly conserved pH-response regulator in many fungal species. The rim101- mutant strain displays growth defects similar to other fungal species in the presence of alkaline pH, increased salt concentrations, and iron limitation. However, the rim101- strain is also characterized by a striking defect in capsule, an important virulence-associated phenotype. This capsular defect is likely due to alterations in polysaccharide attachment to the cell surface, not in polysaccharide biosynthesis. In contrast to many other C. neoformans capsule-defective strains, the rim101- mutant is hypervirulent in animal models of cryptococcosis. Whereas Rim101 activation in other fungal species occurs through the conserved Rim pathway, we demonstrate that C. neoformans Rim101 is also activated by the cAMP/PKA pathway. We report here that C. neoformans uses PKA and the Rim pathway to regulate the localization, activation, and processing of the Rim101 transcription factor. We also demonstrate specific host- relevant activating conditions for Rim101 cleavage, showing that C. neoformans has co-opted conserved signaling pathways to respond to the specific niche within the infected host. These results establish a novel mechanism for Rim101 activation and the integration of two conserved signaling cascades in response to host environmental conditions.
2010-09-04 | GSE23929 | GEO
Project description:A family of APSES transcription factor is known to be fungal-specific transcriptional regulators and play important roles in governing growth, differentiation, and virulence of diverse fungal pathogens. Yet none of APSES-like transcription factors have been identified and investigated in a basidiomycetous fungal pathogen, Cryptococcus neoformans. In the present study we discovered an APSES-like transcription factor, mbs1 (Mbp1/Swi4-like APSES protein 1), as one of novel flucytosine-responsive genes (total 194 genes) identified through comparative transcriptome analysis of C. neoformans hybrid sensor kinase mutants, tco1 and tco2 mutants, which displayed differential flucytosine-susceptibility. Supporting the microarray data, Northern blot and quantitative RT-PCR analysis confirmed that expression of mbs1 is rapidly induced in response to flucytosine in the wild-type strain, but not in the tco1 and tco2 mutants. Furthermore, C. neoformans with deletion of the mbs1 gene exhibited increased susceptibility to flucytosine. Intriguingly, mbs1 plays pleiotropic roles in diverse cellular process of C. neoformans. mbs1 positively regulates ergosterol biosynthesis and thereby its inhibition confers increased susceptibility and resistance to amphotericin B and azole drugs, respectively. mbs1 is also involved in DNA damage repair counteracting genotoxic stresses. During sexual differentiation mbs1 represses pheromone production, but promotes cell-cell fusion. Furthermore mbs1 is required for production of antioxidant melanin pigment and full virulence of C. neoformans. Finally we also performed DNA microarrray analysis to identify mbs1-regulated genes in C. neoformans. A majority of them were found to be involved in cell cycle regulation and DNA repair. Therefore, this study provides a novel antifungal therapeutic method for treatment of cryptococcosis. total RNAs are extracted 2 strains from H99 (H99 Wild type strain (Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii serotype A), mbs1Δ), We use the mixed all of total RNAs from this experiment as a control RNA. We use Cy5 as Sample dye and Cy3 as a control dye.
2011-06-23 | E-GEOD-30156 | biostudies-arrayexpress