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53 Publications visible to you, out of a total of 53
An Interspecies Regulatory Network Inferred from Simultaneous RNA-seq of Candida albicans Invading Innate Immune Cells

Abstract (Expand)

The ability to adapt to diverse micro-environmental challenges encountered within a host is of pivotal importance to the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans. We have quantified C. albicans … and M. musculus gene expression dynamics during phagocytosis by dendritic cells in a genome-wide, time-resolved analysis using simultaneous RNA-seq. A robust network inference map was generated from this dataset using NetGenerator, predicting novel interactions between the host and the pathogen. We experimentally verified predicted interdependent sub-networks comprising Hap3 in C. albicans, and Ptx3 and Mta2 in M. musculus. Remarkably, binding of recombinant Ptx3 to the C. albicans cell wall was found to regulate the expression of fungal Hap3 target genes as predicted by the network inference model. Pre-incubation of C. albicans with recombinant Ptx3 significantly altered the expression of Mta2 target cytokines such as IL-2 and IL-4 in a Hap3-dependent manner, further suggesting a role for Mta2 in host-pathogen interplay as predicted in the network inference model. We propose an integrated model for the functionality of these sub-networks during fungal invasion of immune cells, according to which binding of Ptx3 to the C. albicans cell wall induces remodeling via fungal Hap3 target genes, thereby altering the immune response to the pathogen. We show the applicability of network inference to predict interactions between host-pathogen pairs, demonstrating the usefulness of this systems biology approach to decipher mechanisms of microbial pathogenesis.

Authors: L. Tierney, , S. Muller, S. Brunke, J. C. Molina, , U. Schock, , K. Kuchler

Date Published: 12th Mar 2012

Publication Type: Not specified

FungiFun: a web-based application for functional categorization of fungal genes and proteins

Abstract (Expand)

FungiFun assigns functional annotations to fungal genes or proteins and performs gene set enrichment analysis. Based on three different classification methods (FunCat, GO and KEGG), FungiFun categorizes … genes and proteins for several fungal species on different levels of annotation detail. It is web-based and accessible to users without any programming skills. FungiFun is the first tool offering gene set enrichment analysis including the FunCat categorization. Two biological datasets for Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida albicans were analyzed using FungiFun, providing an overview of the usage and functions of the tool. FungiFun is freely accessible at https://www.omnifung.hki-jena.de/FungiFun/.

Authors: S. Priebe, , D. Albrecht, , A. A. Brakhage

Date Published: 10th Nov 2010

Publication Type: Not specified

The Candida albicans Histone Acetyltransferase Hat1 Regulates Stress Resistance and Virulence via Distinct Chromatin Assembly Pathways.

Abstract (Expand)

Human fungal pathogens like Candida albicans respond to host immune surveillance by rapidly adapting their transcriptional programs. Chromatin assembly factors are involved in the regulation of stress … genes by modulating the histone density at these loci. Here, we report a novel role for the chromatin assembly-associated histone acetyltransferase complex NuB4 in regulating oxidative stress resistance, antifungal drug tolerance and virulence in C. albicans. Strikingly, depletion of the NuB4 catalytic subunit, the histone acetyltransferase Hat1, markedly increases resistance to oxidative stress and tolerance to azole antifungals. Hydrogen peroxide resistance in cells lacking Hat1 results from higher induction rates of oxidative stress gene expression, accompanied by reduced histone density as well as subsequent increased RNA polymerase recruitment. Furthermore, hat1Delta/Delta cells, despite showing growth defects in vitro, display reduced susceptibility to reactive oxygen-mediated killing by innate immune cells. Thus, clearance from infected mice is delayed although cells lacking Hat1 are severely compromised in killing the host. Interestingly, increased oxidative stress resistance and azole tolerance are phenocopied by the loss of histone chaperone complexes CAF-1 and HIR, respectively, suggesting a central role for NuB4 in the delivery of histones destined for chromatin assembly via distinct pathways. Remarkably, the oxidative stress phenotype of hat1Delta/Delta cells is a species-specific trait only found in C. albicans and members of the CTG clade. The reduced azole susceptibility appears to be conserved in a wider range of fungi. Thus, our work demonstrates how highly conserved chromatin assembly pathways can acquire new functions in pathogenic fungi during coevolution with the host.

Authors: M. Tscherner, F. Zwolanek, S. Jenull, F. J. Sedlazeck, A. Petryshyn, I. E. Frohner, J. Mavrianos, N. Chauhan, A. von Haeseler, K. Kuchler

Date Published: No date defined

Publication Type: Not specified

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