Signal Transduction Pathways Regulating Switching, Mating and Biofilm Formation in Candida albicans and Related Species

2012 ◽  
pp. 85-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Soll
Keyword(s):  
Signal Transduction ◽  
Candida Albicans ◽  
Related Species ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Signal Transduction Pathways

scholarly journals Transcriptional Regulators Cph1p and Efg1p Mediate Activation of the Candida albicans Virulence Gene SAP5 during Infection

2002 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 921-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Staib ◽  
Marianne Kretschmar ◽  
Thomas Nichterlein ◽  
Herbert Hof ◽  
Joachim Morschhäuser
Keyword(s):  
Signal Transduction ◽  
Candida Albicans ◽  
Genetic Recombination ◽  
Hyphal Growth ◽  
Transcriptional Regulators ◽  
Infected Tissue ◽  
Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase ◽  
Signal Transduction Pathways ◽  
Aspartic Proteinases

ABSTRACT The opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans can cause superficial as well as systemic infections. Successful adaptation to the different host niches encountered during infection requires coordinated expression of various virulence traits, including the switch between yeast and hyphal growth forms and secretion of aspartic proteinases. Using an in vivo expression technology that is based on genetic recombination as a reporter of gene activation during experimental candidiasis in mice, we investigated whether two signal transduction pathways controlling hyphal growth, a mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade ending in the transcriptional activator Cph1p and a cyclic AMP-dependent regulatory pathway that involves the transcription factor Efg1p, also control expression of the SAP5 gene, which encodes one of the secreted aspartic proteinases and is induced by host signals soon after infection. Our results show that both transcriptional regulators are important for SAP5 activation in vivo. SAP5 expression was reduced in a cph1 mutant, although filamentous growth in infected tissue was not detectably impaired. SAP5 expression was also reduced, but not eliminated, in an efg1 null mutant, although this strain grew exclusively in the yeast form in infected tissue, demonstrating that in contrast to in vitro conditions, SAP5 activation during infection does not depend on growth of C. albicans in the hyphal form. In a cph1 efg1 double mutant, however, SAP5 expression in infected mice was almost completely eliminated, suggesting that the two signal transduction pathways are important for SAP5 expression in vivo. The avirulence of the cph1 efg1 mutant seemed to be caused not only by the inability to form hyphae but also by a loss of expression of additional virulence genes in the host.

scholarly journals Tec1 Mediates the Pheromone Response of the White Phenotype of Candida albicans: Insights into the Evolution of New Signal Transduction Pathways

PLoS Biology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. e1000363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nidhi Sahni ◽  
Song Yi ◽  
Karla J. Daniels ◽  
Guanghua Huang ◽  
Thyagarajan Srikantha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Signal Transduction ◽  
Candida Albicans ◽  
Signal Transduction Pathways ◽  
Pheromone Response

scholarly journals Environmental Sensing and Signal Transduction Pathways Regulating Morphopathogenic Determinants of Candida albicans

2007 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 348-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subhrajit Biswas ◽  
Patrick Van Dijck ◽  
Asis Datta
Keyword(s):  
Signal Transduction ◽  
Candida Albicans ◽  
Morphological Plasticity ◽  
Signal Transduction Pathways ◽  
Mycelial Form ◽  
Healthy Humans ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Opportunistic Fungal Pathogen ◽  
Reversible Transitions ◽  
Hyphal Formation

SUMMARY Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that is found in the normal gastrointestinal flora of most healthy humans. However, under certain environmental conditions, it can become a life-threatening pathogen. The shift from commensal organism to pathogen is often correlated with the capacity to undergo morphogenesis. Indeed, under certain conditions, including growth at ambient temperature, the presence of serum or N-acetylglucosamine, neutral pH, and nutrient starvation, C. albicans can undergo reversible transitions from the yeast form to the mycelial form. This morphological plasticity reflects the interplay of various signal transduction pathways, either stimulating or repressing hyphal formation. In this review, we provide an overview of the different sensing and signaling pathways involved in the morphogenesis and pathogenesis of C. albicans. Where appropriate, we compare the analogous pathways/genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae in an attempt to highlight the evolution of the different components of the two organisms. The downstream components of these pathways, some of which may be interesting antifungal targets, are also discussed.

Signal transduction pathways and cell-wall construction in Candida albicans

2001 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Navarro-García ◽  
B. Eisman ◽  
E. Román ◽  
C. Nombela ◽  
J. Pla
Keyword(s):  
Signal Transduction ◽  
Cell Wall ◽  
Candida Albicans ◽  
Signal Transduction Pathways ◽  
Wall Construction

scholarly journals Ppg1, a PP2A-Type Protein Phosphatase, Controls Filament Extension and Virulence in Candida albicans

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 1538-1547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad T. Albataineh ◽  
Anna Lazzell ◽  
Jose L. Lopez-Ribot ◽  
David Kadosh
Keyword(s):  
Signal Transduction ◽  
Candida Albicans ◽  
Protein Phosphatase ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Filamentous Growth ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Signal Transduction Pathways ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Human Fungal Pathogen ◽  
Epistasis Analysis

ABSTRACT Candida albicans , a major human fungal pathogen, is the primary cause of invasive candidiasis in a wide array of immunocompromised patients. C. albicans virulence requires the ability to undergo a reversible morphological transition from yeast to filaments in response to a variety of host environmental cues. These cues are sensed by the pathogen and activate multiple signal transduction pathways to induce filamentation. Reversible phosphorylation events are critical for regulation of many of these pathways. While a variety of protein kinases are known to function as components of C. albicans filamentous growth signal transduction pathways, considerably little is known about the role of phosphatases. Here we demonstrate that PPG1 , encoding a putative type 2A-related protein phosphatase, is important for C. albicans filament extension, invasion, and virulence in a mouse model of systemic candidiasis. PPG1 is also important for downregulation of NRG1 , a key transcriptional repressor of C. albicans filamentous growth, and is shown to affect the expression of several filament-specific target genes. An epistasis analysis suggests that PPG1 controls C. albicans filamentation via the cyclic AMP-protein kinase A (cAMP-PKA) signaling pathway. We demonstrate that Ppg1 possesses phosphatase activity and that a ppg1 catalytic mutant shows nearly equivalent filamentation, invasion, and virulence defects compared to those of a ppg1 Δ/Δ strain. Overall, our results suggest that phosphatases, such as Ppg1, play critical roles in controlling and fine-tuning C. albicans filament extension and virulence as well as signal transduction pathways, transcriptional regulators, and target genes associated with these processes.

Signal-regulated oxidation of proteins via MICAL

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 613-620
Author(s):  
Clara Ortegón Salas ◽  
Katharina Schneider ◽  
Christopher Horst Lillig ◽  
Manuela Gellert
Keyword(s):  
Signal Transduction ◽  
Hydrogen Peroxide ◽  
Cell Death ◽  
Redox Regulation ◽  
Signal Transduction Pathways ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Intracellular Signals ◽  
Amino Acid Side Chains ◽  
Specific Receptors ◽  
Sulfur Containing

Processing of and responding to various signals is an essential cellular function that influences survival, homeostasis, development, and cell death. Extra- or intracellular signals are perceived via specific receptors and transduced in a particular signalling pathway that results in a precise response. Reversible post-translational redox modifications of cysteinyl and methionyl residues have been characterised in countless signal transduction pathways. Due to the low reactivity of most sulfur-containing amino acid side chains with hydrogen peroxide, for instance, and also to ensure specificity, redox signalling requires catalysis, just like phosphorylation signalling requires kinases and phosphatases. While reducing enzymes of both cysteinyl- and methionyl-derivates have been characterised in great detail before, the discovery and characterisation of MICAL proteins evinced the first examples of specific oxidases in signal transduction. This article provides an overview of the functions of MICAL proteins in the redox regulation of cellular functions.

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