Role of the mitogen-activated protein kinase Hog1p in morphogenesis and virulence of Candida albicans

The relevance of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase Hog1p in Candida albicans was addressed through the characterization of C. albicans strains without a functional HOG1 gene. Analysis of the phenotype of hog1 mutants under osmostressing conditions revealed that this mutant displays a set of morphological alterations as the result of a failure to complete the final stages of cytokinesis, with parallel defects in the budding pattern. Even under permissive conditions, hog1 mutants displayed a different susceptibility to some compounds such as nikkomycin Z or Congo red, which interfere with cell wall functionality. In addition, the hog1 mutant displayed a colony morphology different from that of the wild-type strain on some media which promote morphological transitions in C. albicans. We show that C. albicans hog1 mutants are derepressed in the serum-induced hyphal formation and, consistently with this behavior, that HOG1 overexpression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae represses the pseudodimorphic transition. Most interestingly, deletion of HOG1 resulted in a drastic increase in the mean survival time of systemically infected mice, supporting a role for this MAP kinase pathway in virulence of pathogenic fungi. This finding has potential implications in antifungal therapy.     

MAPKKK-independent regulation of the Hog1 stress-activated protein kinase in Candida albicans

The Hog1 stress-activated protein kinase regulates both stress responses and morphogenesis in Candida albicans and is essential for the virulence of this major human pathogen. Stress-induced Hog1 phosphorylation is regulated by the upstream MAPKK, Pbs2, which in turn is regulated by the MAPKKK, Ssk2. Here, we have investigated the role of phosphorylation of Hog1 and Pbs2 in Hog1-mediated processes in C. albicans. Mutation of the consensus regulatory phosphorylation sites of Hog1 (Thr-174/Tyr-176) and Pbs2 (Ser-355/Thr-359), to nonphosphorylatable residues, resulted in strains that phenocopied hog1Δ and pbs2Δ cells. Consistent with this, stress-induced phosphorylation of Hog1 was abolished in cells expressing nonphosphorylatable Pbs2 (Pbs2(AA)). However, mutation of the consensus sites of Pbs2 to phosphomimetic residues (Pbs2(DD)) failed to constitutively activate Hog1. Furthermore, Ssk2-independent stress-induced Hog1 activation was observed in Pbs2(DD) cells. Collectively, these data reveal a previously uncharacterized MAPKKK-independent mechanism of Hog1 activation in response to stress. Although Pbs2(DD) cells did not exhibit high basal levels of Hog1 phosphorylation, overexpression of an N-terminal truncated form of Ssk2 did result in constitutive Hog1 activation, which was further increased upon stress. Significantly, both Pbs2(AA) and Pbs2(DD) cells displayed impaired stress resistance and attenuated virulence in a mouse model of disease, whereas only Pbs2(AA) cells exhibited the morphological defects associated with loss of Hog1 function. This indicates that Hog1 mediates C. albicans virulence by conferring stress resistance rather than regulating morphogenesis.     

Rck2 kinase is a substrate for the osmotic stress-activated mitogen-activated protein kinase Hog1

Exposure of yeast cells to increases in extracellular osmolarity activates the Hog1 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). Activation of Hog1 MAPK results in induction of a set of osmoadaptive responses, which allow cells to survive in high-osmolarity environments. Little is known about how the MAPK activation results in induction of these responses, mainly because no direct substrates for Hog1 have been reported. We conducted a two-hybrid screening using Hog1 as a bait to identify substrates for the MAPK, and the Rck2 protein kinase was identified as an interactor for Hog1. Both two-hybrid analyses and coprecipitation assays demonstrated that Hog1 binds strongly to the C-terminal region of Rck2. Upon osmotic stress, Rck2 was phosphorylated in vivo in a Hog1-dependent manner. Furthermore, purified Hog1 was able to phosphorylate Rck2 when activated both in vivo and in vitro. Rck2 phosphorylation occurred specifically at Ser519, a residue located within the C-terminal putative autoinhibitory domain. Interestingly, phosphorylation at Ser519 by Hog1 resulted in an increase of Rck2 kinase activity. Overexpression of Rck2 partially suppressed the osmosensitive phenotype of hog1Delta and pbs2Delta cells, suggesting that Rck2 is acting downstream of Hog1. Consistently, growth arrest caused by hyperactivation of the Hog1 MAPK was abolished by deletion of the RCK2 gene. Furthermore, overexpression of a catalytically impaired (presumably dominant inhibitory) Rck2 kinase resulted in a decrease of osmotolerance in wild-type cells but not in hog1Delta cells. Taken together, our data suggest that Rck2 acts downstream of Hog1, controlling a subset of the responses induced by the MAPK upon osmotic stress.     

Ssk2 mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase governs divergent patterns of the stress-activated Hog1 signaling pathway in Cryptococcus neoformans

The stress-activated p38/Hog1 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway is structurally conserved in many diverse organisms, including fungi and mammals, and modulates myriad cellular functions. The Hog1 pathway is uniquely specialized to control differentiation and virulence factors in a majority of clinical Cryptococcus neoformans serotype A and D strains. Here, we identified and characterized the Ssk2 MAPKKK that functions upstream of the MAPKK Pbs2 and the MAPK Hog1 in C. neoformans. The SSK2 gene was identified as a potential component responsible for the difference in Hog1 phosphorylation between the serotype D f1 sibling strains B-3501 and B-3502 through comparative analysis of meiotic maps showing their meiotic segregation patterns of Hog1-dependent sensitivity to the antifungal drug fludioxonil. Ssk2 is the only component of the Hog1 MAPK cascade that is polymorphic between the two strains, and the B-3501 and B-3502 SSK2 alleles were distinguished by two coding sequence changes. Supporting this finding, SSK2 allele exchange completely interchanged the Hog1-controlled signaling patterns, related phenotypes, and virulence levels of strains B-3501 and JEC21. In the serotype A strain H99, disruption of the SSK2 gene enhanced capsule and melanin biosynthesis and mating efficiency, similar to pbs2 and hog1 mutations. Furthermore, ssk2Δ, pbs2Δ, and hog1Δ mutants were hypersensitive to a variety of stresses and resistant to fludioxonil. In agreement with these results, Hog1 phosphorylation was abolished in the ssk2Δ mutant, similar to what occurred in the pbs2Δ mutant. Taken together, these findings indicate that Ssk2 is a critical interface connecting the two-component system and the Pbs2-Hog1 MAPK pathway in C. neoformans.     

Constitutive activation of the Saccharomyces cerevislae mating response pathway by a MAP kinase kinase from Candida albicans

The HST7 gene of Candida albicans encodes a protein with structural similarity to MAP kinase kinases. Expression of this gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae complements disruption of the Ste7 MAP kinase kinase required for both mating in haploid cells and pseudohyphal growth in diploids. However, Hst7 expression does not complement loss of either the Pbs2 (Hog4) MAP kinase kinase required for response to high osmolarity, or loss of the Mkk1 and Mkk2 MAP kinase kinases required for proper cell wall biosynthesis. Intriguingly, HST7 acts as a hyperactive allele of STE7; expression of Hst7 activates the mating pathway even in the absence of upstream signaling components including the Ste7 regulator Ste11, elevates the basal level of the pheromone-inducible FUS1 gene, and amplifies the pseudohyphal growth response in diploid cells. Thus Hst7 appears to be at least partially independent of upstream activators or regulators, but selective in its activity on downstream target MAP kinases. Creation of Hst7/Ste7 hybrid proteins revealed that the C-terminal two-thirds of Hst7, which contains the protein kinase domain, is sufficient to confer this partial independence of upstream activators.     

Differential susceptibility of mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway mutants to oxidative-mediated killing by phagocytes in the fungal pathogen Candida albicans

The role of four mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathways in the survival of Candida albicans following infection of human phagocytes has been addressed through the analysis of mutants defective in their respective MAP kinase. While the contribution of the cell integrity (Mkc1-mediated) or mating (Cek2-mediated) pathways is relatively minor to survival, clear and opposite effects were observed for cek1 and hog1 mutants, despite the fact that these two MAP kinases are important virulence determinants in the mouse model of experimental infection. The Cek1-mediated pathway is involved in sensitivity to phagocyte-mediated killing, while the HOG pathway contributes to the survival of the fungal cells in this interaction. Furthermore, reporter genes have been developed to quantify oxidative and nitrosative stress. hog1 mutants show an oxidative and nitrosative stress response augmented - albeit non-protective - when challenged with oxidants and NO donors in vitro or phagocytic cells (macrophages, neutrophils and the myelomonocytic cell line HL-60), suggesting this as the cause of their reduced virulence in the murine model of infection. These data have important consequences for the development of novel antifungal therapies to combat against fungal infection.     

A single MAPKKK regulates the Hog1 MAPK pathway in the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans

The Hog1 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) plays a central role in stress responses in the human pathogen Candida albicans. Here, we have investigated the MAPK kinase kinase (MAPKKK)-dependent regulation of the pathway. In contrast to the Hog1 pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is regulated by three MAPKKKs (Ssk2, Ssk22, and Ste11), our results demonstrate that Hog1 in C. albicans is regulated by a single MAPKKK Ssk2. Deletion of SSK2 results in comparable stress and morphological phenotypes exhibited by hog1Delta cells, and Ssk2 is required for the stress-induced phosphorylation and nuclear accumulation of Hog1, and for Hog1-dependent gene expression. Furthermore, phenotypes associated with deletion of SSK2 can be circumvented by expression of a phosphomimetic mutant of the MAPKK Pbs2, indicating that Ssk2 regulates Hog1 via activation of Pbs2. In S. cerevisiae, the Hog1 pathway is also regulated by the MAPKKK Ste11. However, we can find no connection between Ste11 and the regulation of Hog1 in C. albicans. Furthermore, expression of a chimeric Pbs2 protein containing the Ste11-dependent regulatory region of S. cerevisiae Pbs2, fails to stimulate Ste11-dependent stress signaling in C. albicans. Collectively, our data show that Ssk2 is the sole MAPKKK to relay stress signals to Hog1 in C. albicans and that the MAPK signaling network in C. albicans has diverged significantly from the corresponding network in S. cerevisiae.     

A conserved stress-activated protein kinase regulates a core stress response in the human pathogen Candida albicans

Previous work has implicated the Hog1 stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK) in osmotic and oxidative stress responses in the human pathogen Candida albicans. In this study, we have characterized the role of Hog1 in mediating these and other stress responses in C. albicans. We provide evidence that a SAPK-dependent core stress response exists in this pathogen. The Hog1 SAPK is phosphorylated and it accumulates in the nucleus in response to diverse stress conditions. In addition, we have identified Hog1-regulated genes that are induced in response to stress conditions that activate Hog1. These analyses reveal both activator and repressor functions for the Hog1 SAPK. Our results also demonstrate that stress cross-protection, a classical hallmark of the core stress response, occurs in C. albicans between stresses that activate the Hog1 SAPK. Importantly, we find that the core stress response in C. albicans has adapted to the environmental niche of this human pathogen. This niche specificity is reflected by the specific environmental conditions that drive the Hog1-regulated core stress response in C. albicans and by differences in the molecular circuitry that control this response.     

The mitogen-activated protein kinase homolog HOG1 gene controls glycerol accumulation in the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans.

The Candida albicans HOG1 gene (HOG1CA) was cloned by functional complementation of the osmosensitive phenotype associated with Saccharomyces cerevisiae hog1 delta mutants. HOG1CA codes for a 377-amino-acid protein, 78% identical to S. cerevisiae Hog1p. A C. albicans hog1 null mutant was found to be sensitive to osmotic stress and failed to accumulate glycerol on high-osmolarity media.     

The TRK1 potassium transporter is the critical effector for killing of Candida albicans by the cationic protein, Histatin 5

The principal feature of killing of Candida albicans and other pathogenic fungi by the catonic protein Histatin 5 (Hst 5) is loss of cytoplasmic small molecules and ions, including ATP and K(+), which can be blocked by the anion channel inhibitor 4,4'-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid. We constructed C. albicans strains expressing one, two, or three copies of the TRK1 gene in order to investigate possible roles of Trk1p (the organism's principal K(+) transporter) in the actions of Hst 5. All measured parameters (Hst 5 killing, Hst 5-stimulated ATP efflux, normal Trk1p-mediated K(+) ((86)Rb(+)) influx, and Trk1p-mediated chloride conductance) were similarly reduced (5-7-fold) by removal of a single copy of the TRK1 gene from this diploid organism and were fully restored by complementation of the missing allele. A TRK1 overexpression strain of C. albicans, constructed by integrating an additional TRK1 gene into wild-type cells, demonstrated cytoplasmic sequestration of Trk1 protein, along with somewhat diminished toxicity of Hst 5. These results could be produced either by depletion of intracellular free Hst 5 due to sequestered binding, or to cooperativity in Hst 5-protein interactions at the plasma membrane. Furthermore, Trk1p-mediated chloride conductance was blocked by 4,4'-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid in all of the tested strains, strongly suggesting that the TRK1 protein provides the essential pathway for ATP loss and is the critical effector for Hst 5 toxicity in C. albicans.     

Involvement of the protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 in Ras-mediated activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway.

Ubiquitously expressed SH2-containing tyrosine phosphatases interact physically with tyrosine kinase receptors or their substrates and relay positive mitogenic signals via the activation of the Ras-mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. Conversely, the structurally related phosphatase SHP-1 is predominantly expressed in hemopoietic cells and becomes tyrosine phosphorylated upon colony-stimulating factor 1 treatment of macrophages without associating with the colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor tyrosine kinase. Mice lacking functional SHP-1 (me/me and me(v)/me(v)) develop systemic autoimmune disease with accumulation of macrophages, suggesting that SHP-1 may be a negative regulator of hemopoietic cell growth. By using macrophages expressing dominant negative Ras and the me(v)/me(v) mouse mutant, we show that SHP-1 is activated in the course of mitogenic signal transduction in a Ras-dependent manner and that its activity is necessary for the Ras-dependent activation of the MAPK pathway but not of the Raf-1 kinase. Consistent with a role for SHP-1 as an intermediate between Ras and the MEK-MAPK pathway, Ras-independent activation of the latter kinases by bacterial lipopolysaccharide occurred normally in me(v)/me(v) cells. Our results sharply accentuate the diversity of signal transduction in mammalian cells, in which the same signaling intermediates can be rearranged to form different pathways.