Candida albicans
Host Response and InflammationDietary Chitin Particles Called Mimetic Fungi Ameliorate Colitis in Toll-Like Receptor 2/CD14- and Sex-Dependent MannersChitin is a natural N-acetylglucosamine polymer and a major structural component of fungal cell walls. Dietary chitin is mucoadhesive; anti-inflammatory effects of chitin microparticles (CMPs; 1- to 10-μm diameters) have been demonstrated in models of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Cellular Microbiology: Pathogen-Host Cell Molecular InteractionsCandida albicans Ras1 Inactivation Increases Resistance to Phagosomal Killing by Human NeutrophilsHost phagocytic cells are crucial players in initial defense against Candida albicans infection. C. albicans utilizes MAP kinases and Ras1 stress response signaling pathways to protect itself from killing by immune cells.
Fungal and Parasitic Infections | SpotlightTamm-Horsfall Protein Protects the Urinary Tract against Candida albicansUrinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans and related species are prevalent in hospitalized patients, especially those on antibiotic therapy, with indwelling catheters, or with predisposing conditions such as diabetes or immunodeficiency. Understanding of key host defenses against Candida UTI is critical for...
Fungal and Parasitic Infections | SpotlightYeast and Filaments Have Specialized, Independent Activities in a Zebrafish Model of Candida albicans InfectionCandida albicans dimorphism is a crucial virulence factor during invasive candidiasis infections, which claim the lives of nearly one-half of those afflicted. It has long been believed that filaments drive tissue invasion and yeast mediates bloodstream dissemination, but observation of these activities during infection has been prevented by technical limitations....
- Fungal and Parasitic Infections | SpotlightCandida albicans Cannot Acquire Sufficient Ethanolamine from the Host To Support Virulence in the Absence of De Novo Phosphatidylethanolamine Synthesis
Candida albicans mutants for phosphatidylserine (PS) synthase (cho1ΔΔ) and PS decarboxylase (psd1ΔΔ psd2ΔΔ) are compromised for virulence in mouse models of systemic infection and oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC). Both of these enzymes are necessary to synthesize phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) by the de novo pathway, but these mutants...
- Cellular Microbiology: Pathogen-Host Cell Molecular InteractionsCandida albicans White-Opaque Switching Influences Virulence but Not Mating during Oropharyngeal Candidiasis