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The environmental yeast Cryptococcus liquefaciens produces capsular and secreted polysaccharides with similar pathogenic properties to those of C. neoformans
Invasive fungal infections, including cryptococcosis, are a growing threat to immunocompromised patients. Although Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii are the main agents of human cryptococcosis, opportunistic infections by environmental species, such as C. liquefaciens, have been observ...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Nature Publishing Group
2017
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5404263/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28440301 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep46768 |
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author | Araújo, Glauber R. de S. Freitas, Gustavo J. C. Fonseca, Fernanda L. Leite, Paulo Emilio C. Rocha, Gustavo Miranda de Souza, Wanderley Santos, Daniel A. Frases, Susana |
author_facet | Araújo, Glauber R. de S. Freitas, Gustavo J. C. Fonseca, Fernanda L. Leite, Paulo Emilio C. Rocha, Gustavo Miranda de Souza, Wanderley Santos, Daniel A. Frases, Susana |
author_sort | Araújo, Glauber R. de S. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Invasive fungal infections, including cryptococcosis, are a growing threat to immunocompromised patients. Although Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii are the main agents of human cryptococcosis, opportunistic infections by environmental species, such as C. liquefaciens, have been observed recently. The main Cryptococcus virulence factor is the production and secretion of polysaccharides (PS). Previously, we showed that both species produce PS of similar composition. Here, we examined the ultrastructure and biological activity of capsular and secreted PS from C. liquefaciens, and yeast pathogenicity to an invertebrate host, in comparison with C. neoformans. Ultrastructural analysis by high-resolution microscopy showed that both species produce large and complex capsules. PS from both species had indistinguishable effects on phagocytosis levels, NO production and the secretion of a variety of immune mediators. Challenge with C. liquefaciens or C. neoformans led to complete lethality of G. mellonella larvae. Treatment with C. liquefaciens PS could not protect mice against infection with C. neoformans. We conclude that polysaccharides of the environmental yeast C. liquefaciens have strikingly similar ultrastructural and biological properties to those of C. neoformans, highlighting the importance of monitoring the emergence of new fungal pathogens for which thermotolerance may be an important transitional step towards pathogenesis in humans. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5404263 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2017 |
publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-54042632017-04-27 The environmental yeast Cryptococcus liquefaciens produces capsular and secreted polysaccharides with similar pathogenic properties to those of C. neoformans Araújo, Glauber R. de S. Freitas, Gustavo J. C. Fonseca, Fernanda L. Leite, Paulo Emilio C. Rocha, Gustavo Miranda de Souza, Wanderley Santos, Daniel A. Frases, Susana Sci Rep Article Invasive fungal infections, including cryptococcosis, are a growing threat to immunocompromised patients. Although Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii are the main agents of human cryptococcosis, opportunistic infections by environmental species, such as C. liquefaciens, have been observed recently. The main Cryptococcus virulence factor is the production and secretion of polysaccharides (PS). Previously, we showed that both species produce PS of similar composition. Here, we examined the ultrastructure and biological activity of capsular and secreted PS from C. liquefaciens, and yeast pathogenicity to an invertebrate host, in comparison with C. neoformans. Ultrastructural analysis by high-resolution microscopy showed that both species produce large and complex capsules. PS from both species had indistinguishable effects on phagocytosis levels, NO production and the secretion of a variety of immune mediators. Challenge with C. liquefaciens or C. neoformans led to complete lethality of G. mellonella larvae. Treatment with C. liquefaciens PS could not protect mice against infection with C. neoformans. We conclude that polysaccharides of the environmental yeast C. liquefaciens have strikingly similar ultrastructural and biological properties to those of C. neoformans, highlighting the importance of monitoring the emergence of new fungal pathogens for which thermotolerance may be an important transitional step towards pathogenesis in humans. Nature Publishing Group 2017-04-25 /pmc/articles/PMC5404263/ /pubmed/28440301 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep46768 Text en Copyright © 2017, The Author(s) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
spellingShingle | Article Araújo, Glauber R. de S. Freitas, Gustavo J. C. Fonseca, Fernanda L. Leite, Paulo Emilio C. Rocha, Gustavo Miranda de Souza, Wanderley Santos, Daniel A. Frases, Susana The environmental yeast Cryptococcus liquefaciens produces capsular and secreted polysaccharides with similar pathogenic properties to those of C. neoformans |
title | The environmental yeast Cryptococcus liquefaciens produces capsular and secreted polysaccharides with similar pathogenic properties to those of C. neoformans |
title_full | The environmental yeast Cryptococcus liquefaciens produces capsular and secreted polysaccharides with similar pathogenic properties to those of C. neoformans |
title_fullStr | The environmental yeast Cryptococcus liquefaciens produces capsular and secreted polysaccharides with similar pathogenic properties to those of C. neoformans |
title_full_unstemmed | The environmental yeast Cryptococcus liquefaciens produces capsular and secreted polysaccharides with similar pathogenic properties to those of C. neoformans |
title_short | The environmental yeast Cryptococcus liquefaciens produces capsular and secreted polysaccharides with similar pathogenic properties to those of C. neoformans |
title_sort | environmental yeast cryptococcus liquefaciens produces capsular and secreted polysaccharides with similar pathogenic properties to those of c. neoformans |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5404263/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28440301 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep46768 |
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