Paracoccidioides brasiliensis is a human thermal dimorphic pathogenic fungus. Survival of P. brasiliensis inside the host depends on the adaptation of this fungal pathogen to different conditions, ...namely oxidative stress imposed by immune cells.
In this study, we evaluated the role of alternative oxidase (AOX), an enzyme involved in the intracellular redox balancing, during host-P. brasiliensis interaction. We generated a mitotically stable P. brasiliensis AOX (PbAOX) antisense RNA (aRNA) strain with a 70% reduction in gene expression. We evaluated the relevance of PbAOX during interaction of conidia and yeast cells with IFN-γ activated alveolar macrophages and in a mouse model of infection. Additionally, we determined the fungal cell's viability and PbAOX in the presence of H₂O₂.
Interaction with IFN-γ activated alveolar macrophages induced higher levels of PbAOX gene expression in PbWt conidia than PbWt yeast cells. PbAOX-aRNA conidia and yeast cells had decreased viability after interaction with macrophages. Moreover, in a mouse model of infection, we showed that absence of wild-type levels of PbAOX in P. brasiliensis results in a reduced fungal burden in lungs at weeks 8 and 24 post-challenge and an increased survival rate. In the presence of H₂O₂, we observed that PbWt yeast cells increased PbAOX expression and presented a higher viability in comparison with PbAOX-aRNA yeast cells.
These data further support the hypothesis that PbAOX is important in the fungal defense against oxidative stress imposed by immune cells and is relevant in the virulence of P. brasiliensis.
Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a systemic granulomatous human mycosis caused by fungi of the genus Paracoccidioides, which is geographically restricted to Latin America. Inhalation of spores, the ...infectious particles of the fungus, is a common route of infection. The PCM treatment of choice is azoles such as itraconazole, but sulfonamides and amphotericin B are used in some cases despite their toxicity to mammalian cells. The current availability of treatments highlights the need to identify and characterize novel targets for antifungal treatment of PCM as well as the need to search for new antifungal compounds obtained from natural sources or by chemical synthesis. To this end, we evaluated the antifungal activity of a camphene thiosemicarbazide derivative (TSC-C) compound on Paracoccidioides yeast. To determine the response of Paracoccidioides spp. to TSC-C, we analyzed the transcriptional profile of the fungus after 8 h of contact with the compound. The results demonstrate that Paracoccidioides lutzii induced the expression of genes related to metabolism; cell cycle and DNA processing; biogenesis of cellular components; cell transduction/signal; cell rescue, defense and virulence; cellular transport, transport facilities and transport routes; energy; protein synthesis; protein fate; transcription; and other proteins without classification. Additionally, we observed intensely inhibited genes related to protein synthesis. Analysis by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry revealed that the compound induced the production of reactive oxygen species. Using an isolate with down-regulated SOD1 gene expression (SOD1-aRNA), we sought to determine the function of this gene in the defense of Paracoccidioides yeast cells against the compound. Mutant cells were more susceptible to TSC-C, demonstrating the importance of this gene in response to the compound. The results presented herein suggest that TSC-C is a promising candidate for PCM treatment.
Macrophages are key players during Paracoccidioides brasiliensis infection. However, the relative contribution of the fungal response to counteracting macrophage activity remains poorly understood. ...In this work, we evaluated the P. brasiliensis proteomic response to macrophage internalization. A total of 308 differentially expressed proteins were detected in P. brasiliensis during infection. The positively regulated proteins included those involved in alternative carbon metabolism, such as enzymes involved in gluconeogenesis, beta-oxidation of fatty acids and amino acids catabolism. The down-regulated proteins during P. brasiliensis internalization in macrophages included those related to glycolysis and protein synthesis. Proteins involved in the oxidative stress response in P. brasiliensis yeast cells were also up-regulated during macrophage infection, including superoxide dismutases (SOD), thioredoxins (THX) and cytochrome c peroxidase (CCP). Antisense knockdown mutants evaluated the importance of CCP during macrophage infection. The results suggested that CCP is involved in a complex system of protection against oxidative stress and that gene silencing of this component of the antioxidant system diminished the survival of P. brasiliensis in macrophages and in a murine model of infection.
Glycoprotein gp43 is an immunodominant diagnostic antigen for paracoccidioidomycosis caused by Paracoccidioides brasiliensis. It is abundantly secreted in isolates such as Pb339. It is structurally ...related to beta-1,3-exoglucanases, however inactive. Its function in fungal biology is unknown, but it elicits humoral, innate and protective cellular immune responses; it binds to extracellular matrix-associated proteins. In this study we applied an antisense RNA (aRNA) technology and Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation to generate mitotically stable PbGP43 mutants (PbGP43 aRNA) derived from wild type Pb339 to study its role in P. brasiliensis biology and during infection. Control PbEV was transformed with empty vector. Growth curve, cell vitality and morphology of PbGP43 aRNA mutants were indistinguishable from those of controls. PbGP43 expression was reduced 80-85% in mutants 1 and 2, as determined by real time PCR, correlating with a massive decrease in gp43 expression. This was shown by immunoblotting of culture supernatants revealed with anti-gp43 mouse monoclonal and rabbit polyclonal antibodies, and also by affinity-ligand assays of extracellular molecules with laminin and fibronectin. In vitro, there was significantly increased TNF-α production and reduced yeast recovery when PbGP43 aRNA1 was exposed to IFN-γ-stimulated macrophages, suggesting reduced binding/uptake and/or increased killing. In vivo, fungal burden in lungs of BALB/c mice infected with silenced mutant was negligible and associated with decreased lung ΙΛ-10 and IL-6. Therefore, our results correlated low gp43 expression with lower pathogenicity in mice, but that will be definitely proven when PbGP43 knockouts become available. This is the first study of gp43 using genetically modified P. brasiliensis.
HSP90 is a molecular chaperone that participates in folding, stabilization, activation, and assembly of several proteins, all of which are key regulators in cell signaling. In dimorphic pathogenic ...fungi such as Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, the adaptation to a higher temperature, acid pH and oxidative stress, is an essential event for fungal survival and also for the establishing of the infectious process. To further understand the role of this protein, we used antisense RNA technology to generate a P. brasiliensis isolate with reduced PbHSP90 gene expression (PbHSP90-aRNA). Reduced expression of HSP90 decreased yeast cell viability during batch culture growth and increased susceptibility to acid pH environments and imposed oxidative stress. Also, PbHSP90-aRNA yeast cells presented reduced viability upon interaction with macrophages. The findings presented here suggest a protective role for HSP90 during adaptation to hostile environments, one that promotes survival of the fungus during host-pathogen interactions.
Iron is essential for the proliferation of fungal pathogens during infection. The availability of iron is limited due to its association with host proteins. Fungal pathogens have evolved different ...mechanisms to acquire iron from host; however, little is known regarding how Paracoccidioides species incorporate and metabolize this ion. In this work, host iron sources that are used by Paracoccidioides spp. were investigated. Robust fungal growth in the presence of the iron-containing molecules hemin and hemoglobin was observed. Paracoccidioides spp. present hemolytic activity and have the ability to internalize a protoporphyrin ring. Using real-time PCR and nanoUPLC-MSE proteomic approaches, fungal growth in the presence of hemoglobin was shown to result in the positive regulation of transcripts that encode putative hemoglobin receptors, in addition to the induction of proteins that are required for amino acid metabolism and vacuolar protein degradation. In fact, one hemoglobin receptor ortholog, Rbt5, was identified as a surface GPI-anchored protein that recognized hemin, protoporphyrin and hemoglobin in vitro. Antisense RNA technology and Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation were used to generate mitotically stable Pbrbt5 mutants. The knockdown strain had a lower survival inside macrophages and in mouse spleen when compared with the parental strain, which suggested that Rbt5 could act as a virulence factor. In summary, our data indicate that Paracoccidioides spp. can use hemoglobin as an iron source most likely through receptor-mediated pathways that might be relevant for pathogenic mechanisms.
Dimorphic human pathogenic fungi interact with host effector cells resisting their microbicidal mechanisms. Yeast cells are able of surviving within the tough environment of the phagolysosome by ...expressing an antioxidant defense system that provides protection against host-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS). This includes the production of catalases (CATs). Here we identified and analyzed the role of CAT isoforms in Paracoccidioides, the etiological agent of paracoccidioidomycosis. Firstly, we found that one of these isoforms was absent in the closely related dimorphic pathogen Coccidioides and dermatophytes, but all of them were conserved in Paracoccidioides, Histoplasma and Blastomyces species. We probed the contribution of CATs in Paracoccidioides by determining the gene expression levels of each isoform through quantitative RT-qPCR, in both the yeast and mycelia phases, and during the morphological switch (transition and germination), as well as in response to oxidative agents and during interaction with neutrophils. PbCATP was preferentially expressed in the pathogenic yeast phase, and was associated to the response against exogenous H
O
. Therefore, we created and analyzed the virulence defects of a knockdown strain for this isoform, and found that CATP protects yeast cells from H
O
generated in vitro and is relevant during lung infection. On the other hand, CATA and CATB seem to contribute to ROS homeostasis in Paracoccidioides cells, during endogenous oxidative stress. CAT isoforms in Paracoccidioides might be coordinately regulated during development and dimorphism, and differentially expressed in response to different stresses to control ROS homeostasis during the infectious process, contributing to the virulence of Paracoccidioides.
► Reduced PbHSP90 expression diminished yeast cell viability and growth rate. ► Reduced PbHSP90 expression provokes a higher sensibility to oxidative injury. ► PbHSP90 gene is important to P. ...brasiliensis’ response to stress conditions. ► Phylogenetic analysis of PbHsp90p showed similarity of the protein among Onygenales.
HSP90 is a molecular chaperone that participates in folding, stabilization, activation, and assembly of several proteins, all of which are key regulators in cell signaling. In dimorphic pathogenic fungi such as Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, the adaptation to a higher temperature, acid pH and oxidative stress, is an essential event for fungal survival and also for the establishing of the infectious process. To further understand the role of this protein, we used antisense RNA technology to generate a P. brasiliensis isolate with reduced PbHSP90 gene expression (PbHSP90-aRNA). Reduced expression of HSP90 decreased yeast cell viability during batch culture growth and increased susceptibility to acid pH environments and imposed oxidative stress. Also, PbHSP90-aRNA yeast cells presented reduced viability upon interaction with macrophages. The findings presented here suggest a protective role for HSP90 during adaptation to hostile environments, one that promotes survival of the fungus during host–pathogen interactions.
Fungal infections represent a serious global health problem, causing damage to health and the economy on the scale of millions. Although vaccines are the most effective therapeutic approach used to ...combat infectious agents, at the moment, no fungal vaccine has been approved for use in humans. However, the scientific community has been working hard to overcome this challenge. In this sense, we aim to describe here an update on the development of fungal vaccines and the progress of methodological and experimental immunotherapies against fungal infections. In addition, advances in immunoinformatic tools are described as an important aid by which to overcome the difficulty of achieving success in fungal vaccine development. In silico approaches are great options for the most important and difficult questions regarding the attainment of an efficient fungal vaccine. Here, we suggest how bioinformatic tools could contribute, considering the main challenges, to an effective fungal vaccine.
PDF
