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Infection and Immunity, September 2009, p. 3872-3878, Vol. 77, No. 9
0019-9567/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00518-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Adhesion of Candida albicans to Endothelial Cells under Physiological Conditions of Flow{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Sarah E. W. Grubb,1* Craig Murdoch,1 Peter E. Sudbery,2 Stephen P. Saville,3 Jose L. Lopez-Ribot,3 and Martin H. Thornhill1

Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine and Surgery, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom,1 Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom,2 Department of Biology and South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas3

Received 11 May 2009/ Returned for modification 14 June 2009/ Accepted 24 June 2009

Candida albicans is a commensal organism that under certain circumstances can become pathogenic. During systemic infection C. albicans is disseminated via the circulation to distant organs, where it causes multiple organ failure. Despite the severity of systemic C. albicans infection, little is known about the mechanisms involved in the adhesion of this organism to the endothelium lining blood vessels. Previous studies have used static assays to examine adhesion. However, these do not realistically model blood vessels, where circulating C. albicans cells must adhere to the endothelium under conditions of flow and shear stress. Furthermore, there is conflicting evidence concerning the role played by yeast, pseudohyphal, and hyphal forms of C. albicans in adhesion to endothelium. To test the hypothesis that there may be differences in the abilities of these three morphogenic forms of C. albicans to adhere to endothelium under conditions of flow, we developed an in vitro flow adhesion assay. We found that all three forms of C. albicans rapidly bound to confluent endothelial cells under conditions of flow. Maximum adhesion was found at low shear stress levels similar to that found in postcapillary venules. Moreover, yeast forms bound in significantly greater numbers than did pseudohyphal and hyphal forms, respectively, contrasting with previous findings from static assays. These findings are consistent with recent in vivo data suggesting that yeast forms may be capable of adhering to the endothelium and migrating into the tissues before undergoing morphogenic change to cause tissue damage.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine and Surgery, School of Clinical Dentistry, 19 Claremont Crescent, Sheffield S10 2TA, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 114 2717849. Fax: 44 114 2717863. E-mail: s.grubb{at}sheffield.ac.uk

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 6 July 2009.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://iai.asm.org/.

Editor: A. Casadevall

Infection and Immunity, September 2009, p. 3872-3878, Vol. 77, No. 9
0019-9567/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00518-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Wilson, D., Hube, B. (2010). Hgc1 Mediates Dynamic Candida albicans-Endothelium Adhesion Events during Circulation. Eukaryot Cell 9: 278-287 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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