PLoS Pathog. 2008 Nov;4(11):e1000217. Epub 2008 Nov 21.
The hyphal-associated adhesin and invasin Als3 of Candida albicans mediates iron acquisition from host ferritin. 2008
Almeida RS, Brunke S, Albrecht A, Thewes S, Laue M, Edwards JE, Filler SG, Hube B.
Department of Microbial Pathogenicity Mechanisms, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans Knoell Institute, Jena, Germany.
Iron sequestration by host iron-binding proteins is an important mechanism of resistance to microbial infections. Inside oral epithelial cells, iron is stored within ferritin, and is therefore not usually accessible to pathogenic microbes. We observed that the ferritin concentration within oral epithelial cells was directly related to their susceptibility to damage by the human pathogenic fungus, Candida albicans. Thus, we hypothesized that host ferritin is used as an iron source by this organism. We found that C. albicans was able to grow on agar at physiological pH with ferritin as the sole source of iron, while the baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae could not. A screen of C. albicans mutants lacking components of each of the three known iron acquisition systems revealed that only the reductive pathway is involved in iron utilization from ferritin by this fungus. Additionally, C. albicans hyphae, but not yeast cells, bound ferritin, and this binding was crucial for iron acquisition from ferritin. Transcriptional profiling of wild-type and hyphal-defective C. albicans strains suggested that the C. albicans invasin-like protein Als3 is required for ferritin binding. Hyphae of an Deltaals3 null mutant had a strongly reduced ability to bind ferritin and these mutant cells grew poorly on agar plates with ferritin as the sole source of iron. Heterologous expression of Als3, but not Als1 or Als5, two closely related members of the Als protein family, allowed S. cerevisiae to bind ferritin. Immunocytochemical localization of ferritin in epithelial cells infected with C. albicans showed ferritin surrounding invading hyphae of the wild-type, but not the Deltaals3 mutant strain. This mutant was also unable to damage epithelial cells in vitro. Therefore, C. albicans can exploit iron from ferritin via morphology dependent binding through Als3, suggesting that this single protein has multiple virulence attributes.
Candida Albicans
Farnesol
Release from quorum-sensing molecules triggers hyphal formation during Candida albicans resumption of growth. 2005
Papers candida bonifazi p
Mucosal Immunol. 2009 Jul;2(4):362-74. Epub 2009 May 6.
Balancing inflammation and tolerance in vivo through dendritic cells by the commensal Candida albicans. 2009
Bonifazi P, Zelante T, D'Angelo C, De Luca A, Moretti S, Bozza S, Perruccio K, Iannitti RG, Giovannini G, Volpi C, Fallarino F, Puccetti P, Romani L.
Department of Experimental Medicine and Biochemical Sciences, University of Perugia, Italy.
Abstract
We analyzed the contribution of intracellular signaling to the functional plasticity of dendritic cells (DCs) presenting Candida albicans, a human commensal associated with severe diseases. Distinct intracellular pathways were activated by recognition of different fungal morphotypes in distinct DC subsets and in Peyer's patches DCs. Inflammatory DCs initiated Th17/Th2 responses to yeasts through the adaptor myeloid differentiation factor-88 (MyD88), whereas tolerogenic DCs activate Th1/T regulatory cell (Treg) differentiation programs to hyphae involving Toll/IL-1 receptor domain-containing adaptor inducing IFN-beta (TRIF) as an intermediary of signaling. In addition, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), affecting the balance between canonical and non-canonical activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) and 2,3 indoleamine dioxygenase (IDO), pivotally contributed to DC plasticity and functional specialization. As Candida-induced tolerogenic DCs ameliorated experimental colitis, our data qualify Candida as a commensal with immunoregulatory activity, resulting from the orchestrated usage of multiple, yet functionally distinct, receptor-signaling pathways in DCs. Ultimately, affecting the local Th17/Treg balance might likely be exploited by the fungus for either commensalism or pathogenicity.
Mucosal Immunol. 2010 Jul;3(4):361-73. Epub 2010 May 5.
L-22 defines a novel immune pathway of antifungal resistance. 2010
De Luca A, Zelante T, D'Angelo C, Zagarella S, Fallarino F, Spreca A, Iannitti RG, Bonifazi P, Renauld JC, Bistoni F, Puccetti P, Romani L.
[1] Department of Experimental Medicine and Biochemical Sciences, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy [2] These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract
The role of IL-17 and Th17 cells in immunity vs. pathology associated with the human commensal Candida albicans remains controversial. Both positive and negative effects on immune resistance have been attributed to IL-17/Th17 in experimental candidiasis. In this study, we provide evidence that IL-22, which is also produced by Th17 cells, has a critical, first-line defense in candidiasis by controlling the growth of infecting yeasts as well as by contributing to the host's epithelial integrity in the absence of acquired Th1-type immunity. The two pathways are reciprocally regulated, and IL-22 is upregulated under Th1 deficiency conditions and vice versa. Whereas both IL-17A and F are dispensable for antifungal resistance, IL-22 mediates protection in IL-17RA-deficient mice, in which IL-17A contributes to disease susceptibility. Thus, our findings suggest that protective immunity to candidiasis is made up of a staged response involving an early, IL-22-dominated response followed by Th1/Treg reactivity that will prevent fungal dissemination and supply memory.
J Exp Med. 2009 Feb 16;206(2):299-311. Epub 2009 Feb 9.
Th17 cells and IL-17 receptor signaling are essential for mucosal host defense against oral candidiasis. 2009, fulltext
Comment in:
* J Exp Med. 2009 Feb 16;206(2):269-73.
Abstract
The commensal fungus Candida albicans causes oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC; thrush) in settings of immunodeficiency. Although disseminated, vaginal, and oral candidiasis are all caused by C. albicans species, host defense against C. albicans varies by anatomical location. T helper 1 (Th1) cells have long been implicated in defense against candidiasis, whereas the role of Th17 cells remains controversial. IL-17 mediates inflammatory pathology in a gastric model of mucosal candidiasis, but is host protective in disseminated disease. Here, we directly compared Th1 and Th17 function in a model of OPC. Th17-deficient (IL-23p19(-/-)) and IL-17R-deficient (IL-17RA(-/-)) mice experienced severe OPC, whereas Th1-deficient (IL-12p35(-/-)) mice showed low fungal burdens and no overt disease. Neutrophil recruitment was impaired in IL-23p19(-/-) and IL-17RA(-/-), but not IL-12(-/-), mice, and TCR-alphabeta cells were more important than TCR-gammadelta cells. Surprisingly, mice deficient in the Th17 cytokine IL-22 were only mildly susceptible to OPC, indicating that IL-17 rather than IL-22 is vital in defense against oral candidiasis. Gene profiling of oral mucosal tissue showed strong induction of Th17 signature genes, including CXC chemokines and beta defensin-3. Saliva from Th17-deficient, but not Th1-deficient, mice exhibited reduced candidacidal activity. Thus, the Th17 lineage, acting largely through IL-17, confers the dominant response to oral candidiasis through neutrophils and antimicrobial factors.
