Serum repressing efflux pump CDR1 in Candida albicans

Background  

In the past decades, the prevalence of candidemia has increased significantly and drug resistance has also become a pressing problem. Overexpression of CDR1, an efflux pump, has been proposed as a major mechanism contributing to the drug resistance in Candida albicans. It has been demonstrated that biological fluids such as human serum can have profound effects on antifungal pharmacodynamics. The aim of this study is to understand the effects of serum in drug susceptibility via monitoring the activity of CDR1 promoter of C. albicans.     

Expression of the CDR1 efflux pump in clinical Candida albicans isolates is controlled by a negative regulatory element

Resistance to azole antifungal drugs in clinical isolates of the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans is often caused by constitutive overexpression of the CDR1 gene, which encodes a multidrug efflux pump of the ABC transporter superfamily. To understand the relevance of a recently identified negative regulatory element (NRE) in the CDR1 promoter for the control of CDR1 expression in the clinical scenario, we investigated the effect of mutation or deletion of the NRE on CDR1 expression in two matched pairs of azole-sensitive and resistant clinical isolates of C. albicans. Expression of GFP or lacZ reporter genes from the wild type CDR1 promoter was much higher in the azole-resistant C. albicans isolates than in the azole-susceptible isolates, reflecting the known differences in CDR1 expression in these strains. Deletion or mutation of the NRE resulted in enhanced reporter gene expression in azole-sensitive strains, but did not further increase the already high CDR1 promoter activity in the azole-resistant strains. In agreement with these findings, electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed a reduced binding to the NRE of nuclear extracts from the resistant C. albicans isolates as compared with extracts from the sensitive isolates. These results demonstrate that the NRE is involved in maintaining CDR1 expression at basal levels and that this repression is overcome in azole-resistant clinical C. albicans isolates, resulting in constitutive CDR1 overexpression and concomitant drug resistance.     

Heterozygosity of genes on the sex chromosome regulates Candida albicans virulence

In the mouse model for systemic infection, natural a/alpha strains of C. albicans are more virulent and more competitive than their spontaneous MTL-homozygous offspring, which arise primarily by loss of one chromosome 5 homologue followed by duplication of the retained homologue (uniparental disomy). Deletion of either the a or alpha copy of the MTL locus of natural a/alpha strains results in a small decrease in virulence, and a small decrease in competitiveness. Loss of the heterozygosity of non-MTL genes along chromosome 5, however, results in larger decreases in virulence and competitiveness. Natural MTL-homozygous strains are on average less virulent than natural MTL-heterozygous strains and arise by multiple mitotic cross-overs along chromosome 5 outside of the MTL region. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that a competitive advantage of natural a/alpha strains over MTL-homozygous offspring maintains the mating system of C. albicans.     

Rep1p negatively regulating MDR1 efflux pump involved in drug resistance in Candida albicans

Overexpression of MDR1 efflux pump is a major mechanism contributing to drug resistance in Candida albicans, the most common human fungal pathogen. To elucidate the regulatory pathway of drug resistance, we have identified a negative regulator of MDR1 and named it Regulator of Efflux Pump 1 (REP1). Overexpression of REP1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae increased susceptibility to fluconazole. Furthermore, null mutations on REP1 decreased the susceptibility to antifungal drugs in C. albicans resulting from increased expression of MDR1 mRNA. Hence, Rep1p is involved in drug resistance by negatively regulating MDR1 in C. albicans.     

A common drug-responsive element mediates the upregulation of the Candida albicans ABC transporters CDR1 and CDR2, two genes involved in antifungal drug resistance

Upregulation of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter genes CDR1 and CDR2 (Candida drug resistance 1 and 2) is a common mechanism observed in Candida albicans clinical isolates developing resistance to the class of azole antifungals. In this work, the regulatory elements of both genes were delimited using a reporter system in an azole-susceptible strain exposed to oestradiol, which allows transient induction of these genes. We found two regulatory elements in the CDR1 promoter: one responsible for basal expression (basal expression element; BEE) and the other required for oestradiol responsiveness (drug-responsive element I; DREI). In the CDR2 promoter, a single regulatory element responsible for oestradiol responsiveness (DREII) was detected. Both DREs shared a consensus of 21 bp with the sequence 5'-CGGA(A/T)ATCGGATATTTTTTTT-3' having no equivalent to known eukaryotic regulatory sequence. Consistent with this finding, two other C. albicans genes identified by a search for the presence of DRE in the C. albicans genome sequence database were responsive to oestradiol. Finally, the regulatory elements found in CDR1 and CDR2 were also functional in an azole-resistant strain with constitutive high expression of both transporters. These results suggest that, although CDR1 and CDR2 upregulation can be obtained by transient drug-induced and constitutive upregulation, these two processes converge to the same regulatory elements and probably mobilize the same trans-acting factors.     

Ibuprofen reverts antifungal resistance on Candida albicans showing overexpression of CDR genes

Several mechanisms may be associated with Candida albicans resistance to azoles. Ibuprofen was described as being able to revert resistance related to efflux activity in Candida . The aim of this study was to uncover the molecular base of antifungal resistance in C. albicans clinical strains that could be reverted by ibuprofen. Sixty-two clinical isolates and five control strains of C. albicans were studied: the azole susceptibility phenotype was determined according to the Clinical Laboratory for Standards Institute, M27-A2 protocol and minimal inhibitory concentration values were recalculated with ibuprofen (100 μg mL⁻¹); synergistic studies between fluconazole and FK506, a Cdr1p inhibitor, were performed using an agar disk diffusion assay and were compared with ibuprofen results. Gene expression was quantified by real-time PCR, with and without ibuprofen, regarding CDR1 , CDR2 , MDR1 , encoding for efflux pumps, and ERG11 , encoding for azole target protein. A correlation between susceptibility phenotype and resistance gene expression profiles was determined. Ibuprofen and FK506 showed a clear synergistic effect when combined with fluconazole. Resistant isolates reverting to susceptible after incubation with ibuprofen showed CDR1 and CDR2 overexpression especially of the latter. Conversely, strains that did not revert displayed a remarkable increase in ERG11 expression along with CDR genes. Ibuprofen did not alter resistance gene expression significantly ( P >0.05), probably acting as a Cdrp blocker.     

ADH1 expression inversely correlates with CDR1 and CDR2 in Candida albicans from chronic oral candidosis in APECED (APS-I) patients

Expression of the alcohol dehydrogenase gene ADH1, which converts ethanol into carcinogenic acetaldehyde, significantly inversely correlated with the expression of CDR1 and CDR2, genes linked to azole resistance in Candida albicans isolated from chronic oral candidosis in autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidosis-ectodermal dystrophy (APECED, APS-I) patients. This is a novel link between candidal two-carbon metabolism genes and azole resistance.     

Virulence genes in the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans

In recent years, the incidence of fungal infections has been rising all over the world. Although the amount of research in the field of pathogenic fungi has also increased, there is still a need for the identification of reliable determinants of virulence. In this review, we focus on identified Candida albicans genes whose deletant strains have been tested in experimental virulence assays. We discuss the putative relationship of these genes to virulence and also outline the use of new different systems to examine the precise effect in virulence of different genes.     

Efficient and rapid identification of Candida albicans allelic status using SNP-RFLP

Candida albicans is the most prevalent opportunistic fungal pathogen in the clinical setting, causing a wide spectrum of diseases ranging from superficial mucosal lesions to life-threatening deep-tissue infections. Recent studies provide strong evidence that C. albicans possesses an arsenal of genetic mechanisms promoting genome plasticity and that it uses these mechanisms under conditions of nutritional or antifungal drug stress. Two microarray-based methods, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and comparative genome hybridization arrays, have been developed to study genome changes in C. albicans . However, array technologies can be relatively expensive and are not available to every laboratory. In addition, they often generate more data than needed to analyze specific genomic loci or regions. Here, we have developed a set of SNP-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) (or PCR-RFLP) markers, two per chromosome arm, for C. albicans . These markers can be used to rapidly and accurately detect large-scale changes in the C. albicans genome including loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at single loci, across chromosome arms or across whole chromosomes. Furthermore, skewed SNP-RFLP allelic ratios are indicative of trisomy at heterozygous loci. While less comprehensive than array-based approaches, we propose SNP-RFLP as an inexpensive, rapid, and reliable method to screen strains of interest for possible genome changes.     

HLA-DP and HLA-DO genes in presumptive HLA-identical siblings: structural and functional identification of allelic variation

We analyzed HLA class II genomic polymorphisms in three families in which bone marrow transplantation was performed between individuals presumed to be HLA identical, but in which unexplained mixed lymphocyte culture reactivity was observed. These families were characterized by classical HLA serology, MLC, and DP typing. In each family, a pair of "HLA-identical" siblings demonstrated a small proliferative response in bidirectional MLC. Southern blotting analysis performed with cDNA probes for DQ alpha, DP alpha, and DP beta identified DP genomic differences in each case. Hybridization of Bgl II-digested genomic DNA with a DP alpha cDNA probe revealed three prominent polymorphic fragments (7.7, 5.8, and 3.7 kb), which discriminated between presumptive identical siblings and indicated crossover events within HLA. Similarly, hybridization of SstI-digested genomic DNA with a DP beta cDNA probe, although resulting in a more complex pattern, identified DP genomic disparity between the presumed HLA identical siblings. Hybridization of SstI-digested DNA from two families with evidence of DP recombination was performed by using an oligonucleotide probe specific for the newly described HLA class II gene DO beta. Two major polymorphic fragments, at 6.2 and 3.3 kb, segregated in these families and localized the crossovers flanking the DO beta gene between the DQ and DP loci. The contribution of the antigenic differences marked by these HLA DP and DO DNA polymorphisms to allorecognition in MLR and in graft-vs-host disease are discussed.     

白假丝酵母CFL1基因通过转录调控参与氧化压力应答

【背景】CFL1基因是白假丝酵母高铁还原酶基因,介导胞外铁离子的还原,在白假丝酵母胞内铁稳态的维持方面发挥着重要作用。【目的】研究CFL1基因调节氧化压力应答的分子机制。【方法】采用液体培养及巨噬细胞模型,测定CFL1缺失对氧化压力耐受性和杀伤巨噬细胞能力的影响;使用羟基自由基清除剂二甲基亚砜(DMSO)分析其对缓解氧化压力敏感性的影响;采用实时荧光定量PCR分析CFL1缺失对氧化压力应答基因表达的影响;采用过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性测定方法研究CFL1缺失对CAT1基因表达的影响;通过构建WT-CAT1-GFP和cfl1Δ/Δ-CAT1-GFP菌株分析过氧化氢酶基因过表达对cfl1Δ/Δ氧化压力敏感性的影响。【结果】白假丝酵母CFL1基因的缺失会造成杀伤巨噬细胞能力的减弱,氧化压力应答基因表达的下降。过氧化氢酶基因的过表达则能恢复与野生型几乎一致的氧化压力水平。【结论】CFL1基因通过转录调控参与白假丝酵母氧化压力应答过程。