scholarly journals Copper Availability Influences the Transcriptomic Response of Candida albicans to Fluconazole Stress

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth W Hunsaker ◽  
Chen-Hsin Albert Yu ◽  
Katherine J Franz

Abstract The ability of pathogens to maintain homeostatic levels of essential biometals is known to be important for survival and virulence in a host, which itself regulates metal availability as part of its response to infection. Given this importance of metal homeostasis, we sought to address how the availability of copper in particular impacts the response of the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans to treatment with the antifungal drug fluconazole. The present study reports whole transcriptome analysis via time-course RNA-seq of C. albicans cells exposed to fluconazole with and without 10 µM supplemental CuSO4 added to the growth medium. The results show widespread impacts of small changes in Cu availability on the transcriptional response of C. albicans to fluconazole. Of the 2359 genes that were differentially expressed under conditions of cotreatment, 50% were found to be driven uniquely by exposure to both Cu and fluconazole. The breadth of metabolic processes that were affected by cotreatment illuminates a fundamental intersectionality between Cu metabolism and fungal response to drug stress. More generally, these results show that seemingly minor fluctuations in Cu availability are sufficient to shift cells’ transcriptional response to drug stress. Ultimately, the findings may inform the development of new strategies that capitalize on drug-induced vulnerabilities in metal homeostasis pathways.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer E. L. Diaz ◽  
Mehmet Eren Ahsen ◽  
Thomas Schaffter ◽  
Xintong Chen ◽  
Ronald B. Realubit ◽  
...  

AbstractOur ability to predict the effects of drug combinations is limited, in part by limited understanding of how the transcriptional response of two monotherapies results in that of their combination. We performed the first analysis of matched time course RNAseq profiling of cells treated with both single drugs and their combinations. The transcriptional signature of the synergistic combination we studied had unique gene expression not seen in either constituent monotherapy. This can be explained mechanistically by the sequential activation of transcription factors in time in the gene regulatory network. The nature of this transcriptional cascade suggests that drug synergy may ensue when the transcriptional responses elicited by two unrelated individual drugs are correlated. We used these results as the basis of a simple prediction algorithm attaining an AUROC of 0.84 in the prediction of synergistic drug combinations in an independent dataset.


2004 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 1076-1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Lorenz ◽  
Jennifer A. Bender ◽  
Gerald R. Fink

ABSTRACT The opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans is both a benign gut commensal and a frequently fatal systemic pathogen. The interaction of C. albicans with the host's innate immune system is the primary factor in this balance; defects in innate immunity predispose the patient to disseminated candidiasis. Because of the central importance of phagocytic cells in defense against fungal infections, we have investigated the response of C. albicans to phagocytosis by mammalian macrophages using genomic transcript profiling. This analysis reveals a dramatic reprogramming of transcription in C. albicans that occurs in two successive steps. In the early phase cells shift to a starvation mode, including gluconeogenic growth, activation of fatty acid degradation, and downregulation of translation. In a later phase, as hyphal growth enables C. albicans to escape from the macrophage, cells quickly resume glycolytic growth. In addition, there is a substantial nonmetabolic response imbedded in the early phase, including machinery for DNA damage repair, oxidative stress responses, peptide uptake systems, and arginine biosynthesis. Further, a surprising percentage of the genes that respond specifically to macrophage contact have no known homologs, suggesting that the organism has undergone substantial evolutionary adaptations to the commensal or pathogen lifestyle. This transcriptional reprogramming is almost wholly absent in the related, but nonpathogenic, yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, suggesting that these large-scale and coordinated changes contribute significantly to the ability of this organism to survive and cause disease in vivo.


eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer EL Diaz ◽  
Mehmet Eren Ahsen ◽  
Thomas Schaffter ◽  
Xintong Chen ◽  
Ronald B Realubit ◽  
...  

Our ability to discover effective drug combinations is limited, in part by insufficient understanding of how the transcriptional response of two monotherapies results in that of their combination. We analyzed matched time course RNAseq profiling of cells treated with single drugs and their combinations and found that the transcriptional signature of the synergistic combination was unique relative to that of either constituent monotherapy. The sequential activation of transcription factors in time in the gene regulatory network was implicated. The nature of this transcriptional cascade suggests that drug synergy may ensue when the transcriptional responses elicited by two unrelated individual drugs are correlated. We used these results as the basis of a simple prediction algorithm attaining an AUROC of 0.77 in the prediction of synergistic drug combinations in an independent dataset.


Author(s):  
М.М. Руденок ◽  
А.Х. Алиева ◽  
А.А. Колачева ◽  
М.В. Угрюмов ◽  
П.А. Сломинский ◽  
...  

Несмотря на очевидный прогресс, достигнутый в изучении молекулярно-генетических факторов и механизмов патогенеза болезни Паркинсона (БП), в настоящее время стало ясно, что нарушения в структуре ДНК не описывают весь спектр патологических изменений, наблюдаемых при развитии заболевания. В настоящее время показано, что существенное влияние на патогенез БП могут оказывать изменения на уровне транскриптома. В работе были использованы мышиные модели досимптомной стадии БП, поздней досимптомной и ранней симптомной (РСС) стадиями БП. Для полнотранскриптомного анализа пулов РНК тканей черной субстанции и стриатума мозга мышей использовались микрочипы MouseRef-8 v2.0 Expression BeadChip Kit («Illumina», США). Полученные данные указывают на последовательное вовлечение транскриптома в патогенез БП, а также на то, что изменения на транскриптомном уровне процессов транспорта и митохондриального биогенеза могут играть важную роль в нейродегенерации при БП уже на самых ранних этапах. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a complex systemic disease, mainly associated with the death of dopaminergic neurons. Despite the obvious progress made in the study of molecular genetic factors and mechanisms of PD pathogenesis, it has now become clear that violations in the DNA structure do not describe the entire spectrum of pathological changes observed during the development of the disease. It has now been shown that changes at the transcriptome level can have a significant effect on the pathogenesis of PD. The authors used models of the presymptomatic stage of PD with mice decapitation after 6 hours (6 h-PSS), presymptomatic stage with decapitation after 24 hours (24 h-PSS), advanced presymptomatic (Adv-PSS) and early symptomatic (ESS) stages of PD. For whole transcriptome analysis of RNA pools of the substantia nigra and mouse striatum, the MouseRef-8 v2.0 Expression BeadChip Kit microchips (Illumina, USA) were used. As a result of the analysis of whole transcriptome data, it was shown that, there are a greater number of statistically significant changes in the tissues of the brain and peripheral blood of mice with Adv-PSS and ESS models of PD compared to 6 h-PSS and 24 h-PSS models. In general, the obtained data indicate the sequential involvement of the transcriptome in the pathogenesis of PD, as well as the fact that changes at the transcriptome level of the processes of transport and mitochondrial biogenesis can play an important role in neurodegeneration in PD at an early stage.


2007 ◽  
Vol 196 (11) ◽  
pp. 1603-1612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Siau ◽  
Fousseyni S. Touré ◽  
Odile Ouwe‐Missi‐Oukem‐Boyer ◽  
Liliane Cicéron ◽  
Nassira Mahmoudi ◽  
...  

2006 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 1493-1501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chantal Fradin ◽  
Abigail L. Mavor ◽  
Günther Weindl ◽  
Martin Schaller ◽  
Karin Hanke ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Candida albicans is a polymorphic opportunistic fungus that can cause life-threatening systemic infections following hematogenous dissemination in patients susceptible to nosocomial infection. Neutrophils form part of the innate immune response, which is the first line of defense against microbes and is particularly important in C. albicans infections. To compare the transcriptional response of leukocytes exposed to C. albicans, we investigated the expression of key cytokine genes in polymorphonuclear and mononuclear leukocytes after incubation with C. albicans for 1 h. Isolated mononuclear cells expressed high levels of genes encoding proinflammatory signaling molecules, whereas neutrophils exhibited much lower levels, similar to those observed in whole blood. The global transcriptional profile of neutrophils was examined by using an immunology-biased human microarray to determine whether different morphological forms or the viability of C. albicans altered the transcriptome. Hyphal cells appeared to have the broadest effect, although the most strongly induced genes were regulated independently of morphology or viability. These genes were involved in proinflammatory cell-cell signaling, cell signal transduction, and cell growth. Generally, genes encoding known components of neutrophil granules showed no upregulation at this time point; however, lactoferrin, a well-known candidacidal peptide, was secreted by neutrophils. Addition to inhibitors of RNA or protein de novo synthesis did not influence the killing activity within 30 min. These results support the general notion that neutrophils do not require gene transcription to mount an immediate and direct attack against microbes. However, neutrophils exposed to C. albicans express genes involved in communication with other immune cells.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document