Duke University Libraries
View Item 
  •   DukeSpace
  • Duke Scholarly Works
  • Scholarly Articles
  • View Item
  •   DukeSpace
  • Duke Scholarly Works
  • Scholarly Articles
  • View Item
    • Login
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Cryptococcal cell morphology affects host cell interactions and pathogenicity.

    Thumbnail
    View / Download
    1.2 Mb
    Date
    2010-06-17
    Authors
    Baltes, NJ
    Charlier, C
    Chrétien, F
    Dromer, F
    Heitman, Joseph
    Nielsen, JN
    Nielsen, Kirsten
    Okagaki, LH
    Strain, AK
    Show More
    (9 total)
    Repository Usage Stats
    262
    views
    211
    downloads
    Abstract
    Cryptococcus neoformans is a common life-threatening human fungal pathogen. The size of cryptococcal cells is typically 5 to 10 microm. Cell enlargement was observed in vivo, producing cells up to 100 microm. These morphological changes in cell size affected pathogenicity via reducing phagocytosis by host mononuclear cells, increasing resistance to oxidative and nitrosative stress, and correlated with reduced penetration of the central nervous system. Cell enlargement was stimulated by coinfection with strains of opposite mating type, and ste3aDelta pheromone receptor mutant strains had reduced cell enlargement. Finally, analysis of DNA content in this novel cell type revealed that these enlarged cells were polyploid, uninucleate, and produced daughter cells in vivo. These results describe a novel mechanism by which C. neoformans evades host phagocytosis to allow survival of a subset of the population at early stages of infection. Thus, morphological changes play unique and specialized roles during infection.
    Type
    Journal article
    Subject
    Animals
    Blood-Brain Barrier
    Blotting, Western
    Brain
    Bronchoalveolar Lavage
    Cell Adhesion
    Cell Proliferation
    Cryptococcosis
    Cryptococcus neoformans
    Female
    Flow Cytometry
    Humans
    Lung Diseases, Fungal
    Mice
    Mice, Inbred A
    Oxidative Stress
    Phagocytosis
    Ploidies
    RNA, Messenger
    Receptors, Pheromone
    Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
    Permalink
    http://hdl.handle.net/10161/4602
    Published Version (Please cite this version)
    10.1371/journal.ppat.1000953
    Publication Info
    Baltes, NJ; Charlier, C; Chrétien, F; Dromer, F; Heitman, Joseph; Nielsen, JN; ... Strain, AK (2010). Cryptococcal cell morphology affects host cell interactions and pathogenicity. PLoS Pathog, 6(6). pp. e1000953. 10.1371/journal.ppat.1000953. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10161/4602.
    This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
    Collections
    • Scholarly Articles
    More Info
    Show full item record

    Scholars@Duke

    Heitman

    Joseph Heitman

    Chair, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
    Signal transduction cascades regulating development and virulence of microorganisms Our research focuses on how cells sense their environment and communicate with other cells. We employ genetic and biochemical approaches to study two divergent single-celled eukaryotic organisms, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans. These organisms both grow as budding yeasts and appear quite similar, yet they have been diverging ov
    Open Access

    Articles written by Duke faculty are made available through the campus open access policy. For more information see: Duke Open Access Policy

    Rights for Collection: Scholarly Articles

     

     

    Browse

    All of DukeSpaceCommunities & CollectionsAuthorsTitlesTypesBy Issue DateDepartmentsAffiliations of Duke Author(s)SubjectsBy Submit DateThis CollectionAuthorsTitlesTypesBy Issue DateDepartmentsAffiliations of Duke Author(s)SubjectsBy Submit Date

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics