1. Home
  2. People Index
  3. Toni Förster

Toni Förster

About Toni Förster:

Project C1

SEEK ID: https://funginet.hki-jena.de/people/53

Location:  Germany

Expertise: Not specified

Tools: Not specified

ORCID: Not specified

help Toni's tags

This person has not yet tagged anything.

Related items

3 hidden items
Enemies and brothers in arms: Candida albicans and gram-positive bacteria.
FungiNet C - Candida projects

Abstract (Expand)

Candida albicans is an important human opportunistic fungal pathogen which is frequently found as part of the normal human microbiota. It is well accepted that the fungus interacts with other components … of the resident microbiota and that this impacts the commensal or pathogenic outcome of C. albicans colonization. Different types of interactions, including synergism or antagonism, contribute to a complex balance between the multitude of different species. Mixed biofilms of C. albicans and streptococci are a well-studied example of a mutualistic interaction often potentiating the virulence of the individual members. In contrast, other bacteria like lactobacilli are known to antagonize C. albicans, and research has just started elucidating the mechanisms behind these interactions. This scenario is even more complicated by a third player, the host. This review focuses on interactions between C. albicans and gram-positive bacteria whose investigation will without doubt ultimately help understanding C. albicans infections.

Authors: None

Date Published: No date defined

Journal: Cellular Microbiology

Candida albicans-Induced Epithelial Damage Mediates Translocation through Intestinal Barriers.
B4

Abstract (Expand)

Life-threatening systemic infections often occur due to the translocation of pathogens across the gut barrier and into the bloodstream. While the microbial and host mechanisms permitting bacterial gut … translocation are well characterized, these mechanisms are still unclear for fungal pathogens such as Candida albicans, a leading cause of nosocomial fungal bloodstream infections. In this study, we dissected the cellular mechanisms of translocation of C. albicans across intestinal epithelia in vitro and identified fungal genes associated with this process. We show that fungal translocation is a dynamic process initiated by invasion and followed by cellular damage and loss of epithelial integrity. A screen of >2,000 C. albicans deletion mutants identified genes required for cellular damage of and translocation across enterocytes. Correlation analysis suggests that hypha formation, barrier damage above a minimum threshold level, and a decreased epithelial integrity are required for efficient fungal translocation. Translocation occurs predominantly via a transcellular route, which is associated with fungus-induced necrotic epithelial damage, but not apoptotic cell death. The cytolytic peptide toxin of C. albicans, candidalysin, was found to be essential for damage of enterocytes and was a key factor in subsequent fungal translocation, suggesting that transcellular translocation of C. albicans through intestinal layers is mediated by candidalysin. However, fungal invasion and low-level translocation can also occur via non-transcellular routes in a candidalysin-independent manner. This is the first study showing translocation of a human-pathogenic fungus across the intestinal barrier being mediated by a peptide toxin.IMPORTANCECandida albicans, usually a harmless fungus colonizing human mucosae, can cause lethal bloodstream infections when it manages to translocate across the intestinal epithelium. This can result from antibiotic treatment, immune dysfunction, or intestinal damage (e.g., during surgery). However, fungal processes may also contribute. In this study, we investigated the translocation process of C. albicans using in vitro cell culture models. Translocation occurs as a stepwise process starting with invasion, followed by epithelial damage and loss of epithelial integrity. The ability to secrete candidalysin, a peptide toxin deriving from the hyphal protein Ece1, is key: C. albicans hyphae, secreting candidalysin, take advantage of a necrotic weakened epithelium to translocate through the intestinal layer.

Authors: Stefanie Allert, Toni Förster, Carl-Magnus Svensson, J. P. Richardson, T. Pawlik, B. Hebecker, Sven Rudolphi, M. Juraschitz, M. Schaller, M. Blagojevic, Joachim Morschhäuser, Marc Thilo Figge, Ilse Jacobsen, J. R. Naglik, Lydia Kasper, Selene Mogavero, Bernhard Hube

Date Published: 5th Jun 2018

Journal: mBio

Candidalysin is a fungal peptide toxin critical for mucosal infection
FungiNet C - Candida projects

Abstract (Expand)

Cytolytic proteins and peptide toxins are classical virulence factors of several bacterial pathogens which disrupt epithelial barrier function, damage cells and activate or modulate host immune responses. … Such toxins have not been identified previously in human pathogenic fungi. Here we identify the first, to our knowledge, fungal cytolytic peptide toxin in the opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans. This secreted toxin directly damages epithelial membranes, triggers a danger response signalling pathway and activates epithelial immunity. Membrane permeabilization is enhanced by a positive charge at the carboxy terminus of the peptide, which triggers an inward current concomitant with calcium influx. C. albicans strains lacking this toxin do not activate or damage epithelial cells and are avirulent in animal models of mucosal infection. We propose the name 'Candidalysin' for this cytolytic peptide toxin; a newly identified, critical molecular determinant of epithelial damage and host recognition of the clinically important fungus, C. albicans.

Authors: D. L. Moyes, D. Wilson, J. P. Richardson, S. Mogavero, S. X. Tang, J. Wernecke, S. Hofs, R. L. Gratacap, J. Robbins, M. Runglall, C. Murciano, M. Blagojevic, S. Thavaraj, Toni Förster, B. Hebecker, Lydia Kasper, G. Vizcay, S. I. Iancu, N. Kichik, A. Hader, Oliver Kurzai, T. Luo, T. Kruger, O. Kniemeyer, E. Cota, O. Bader, R. T. Wheeler, T. Gutsmann, Bernhard Hube, J. R. Naglik

Date Published: 30th Mar 2016

Journal: Nature

Molecular characterization of Candida albicans mucosal colonization, infection and translocation
FungiNet total

Talk at internal seminar in Jena_21.11.2017

Creators: Toni Förster, Selene Mogavero, Bernhard Hube, Lydia Kasper, Stefanie Allert

Contributor: Toni Förster

Download
Molecular characterization of Candida albicans mucosal colonization, infection and translocation
FungiNet C - Candida projects

FungiNet C1 Talk September 2017

Creators: Toni Förster, Stefanie Allert, Bernhard Hube, Selene Mogavero, Lydia Kasper, Christian Pérez, Juliane Meir

Contributor: Toni Förster

Download
4 hidden items
Powered by
 (v.1.9.1)
About INF | FungiNet | Funding and Programmes | Credits | Imprint
Copyright © 2008 - 2019 The University of Manchester and HITS gGmbH