Mucins Suppress Virulence Traits of Candida albicans
Candida albicans is the most prevalent fungal pathogen of humans, causing a variety of diseases ranging from superficial mucosal infections to deep-seated systemic invasions. Mucus, the gel that coats all wet epithelial surfaces, accommodates C. albicans as part of the normal microbiota, where C. al...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Society for Microbiology
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/92559 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2599-2774 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8260-338X |
| _version_ | 1826208345500942336 |
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| author | Kavanaugh, Nicole Lynn Zhang, Angela Q. Nobile, Clarissa J. Johnson, Alexander D. Ribbeck, Katharina |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering Kavanaugh, Nicole Lynn Zhang, Angela Q. Nobile, Clarissa J. Johnson, Alexander D. Ribbeck, Katharina |
| author_sort | Kavanaugh, Nicole Lynn |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Candida albicans is the most prevalent fungal pathogen of humans, causing a variety of diseases ranging from superficial mucosal infections to deep-seated systemic invasions. Mucus, the gel that coats all wet epithelial surfaces, accommodates C. albicans as part of the normal microbiota, where C. albicans resides asymptomatically in healthy humans. Through a series of in vitro experiments combined with gene expression analysis, we show that mucin biopolymers, the main gel-forming constituents of mucus, induce a new oval-shaped morphology in C. albicans in which a range of genes related to adhesion, filamentation, and biofilm formation are downregulated. We also show that corresponding traits are suppressed, rendering C. albicans impaired in forming biofilms on a range of different synthetic surfaces and human epithelial cells. Our data suggest that mucins can manipulate C. albicans physiology, and we hypothesize that they are key environmental signals for retaining C. albicans in the host-compatible, commensal state. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T14:04:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/92559 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T14:04:18Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/925592022-10-01T18:58:02Z Mucins Suppress Virulence Traits of Candida albicans Kavanaugh, Nicole Lynn Zhang, Angela Q. Nobile, Clarissa J. Johnson, Alexander D. Ribbeck, Katharina Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology Kavanaugh, Nicole Lynn Zhang, Angela Q. Ribbeck, Katharina Candida albicans is the most prevalent fungal pathogen of humans, causing a variety of diseases ranging from superficial mucosal infections to deep-seated systemic invasions. Mucus, the gel that coats all wet epithelial surfaces, accommodates C. albicans as part of the normal microbiota, where C. albicans resides asymptomatically in healthy humans. Through a series of in vitro experiments combined with gene expression analysis, we show that mucin biopolymers, the main gel-forming constituents of mucus, induce a new oval-shaped morphology in C. albicans in which a range of genes related to adhesion, filamentation, and biofilm formation are downregulated. We also show that corresponding traits are suppressed, rendering C. albicans impaired in forming biofilms on a range of different synthetic surfaces and human epithelial cells. Our data suggest that mucins can manipulate C. albicans physiology, and we hypothesize that they are key environmental signals for retaining C. albicans in the host-compatible, commensal state. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Environmental Health Sciences (Grant P30-ES002109) National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.). Biotechnology Training Program (Grant 5T32GM008334-24) 2014-12-30T20:58:34Z 2014-12-30T20:58:34Z 2014-11 2014-09 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2150-7511 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/92559 Kavanaugh, Nicole L., Angela Q. Zhang, Clarissa J. Nobile, Alexander D. Johnson, and Katharina Ribbeck. “Mucins Suppress Virulence Traits of Candida Albicans.” mBio 5, no. 6 (October 28, 2014): e01911–14–e01911–14. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2599-2774 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8260-338X en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01911-14 mBio Creative Commons Attribution http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ application/pdf American Society for Microbiology American Society for Microbiology |
| spellingShingle | Kavanaugh, Nicole Lynn Zhang, Angela Q. Nobile, Clarissa J. Johnson, Alexander D. Ribbeck, Katharina Mucins Suppress Virulence Traits of Candida albicans |
| title | Mucins Suppress Virulence Traits of Candida albicans |
| title_full | Mucins Suppress Virulence Traits of Candida albicans |
| title_fullStr | Mucins Suppress Virulence Traits of Candida albicans |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mucins Suppress Virulence Traits of Candida albicans |
| title_short | Mucins Suppress Virulence Traits of Candida albicans |
| title_sort | mucins suppress virulence traits of candida albicans |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/92559 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2599-2774 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8260-338X |
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