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  • Review Article
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Signalling and oxidant adaptation in Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 4, pages 435–444 (2006)Cite this article

Key Points

  • This review provides an analysis of the signal transduction pathways that contribute to oxidant-stress adaptation in Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus.

  • In addition to the signal pathways, downstream effector proteins and their activities in oxidant neutralization are discussed.

  • An analysis especially of the two-component signal transduction proteins and the relationship of these proteins to the Hog1p MAPK are discussed including differences among the two-component eukaryotic and prokaryotic proteins.

  • The relationship of in vitro analysis of oxidant adaptation is extended in this review to a discussion of survival of pathogens in phagocytic cells.

  • The neutrophil is the primary response cell in protection. Comparisons are made between PMNs and monocytes in their interactions with C. albicans.

  • The pathogenesis of candidiasis and invasive aspergillosis is presented, and the early events in these processes are discussed in relationship to phagocyte functions.

Abstract

Candida species and Aspergillus fumigatus were once thought to be relatively benign organisms. However, it is now known that this is not the case ? Candida species rank among the top four causes of nosocomial infectious diseases in humans and A. fumigatus is the most deadly mould, often having a 90% mortality rate in immunocompromised transplant recipients. Adaptation to stress, including oxidative stress, is a necessary requisite for survival of these organisms during infection. Here, we describe the latest information on the signalling pathways and target proteins that contribute to oxidant adaptation in C. albicans and A. fumigatus, which has been obtained primarily through the analysis of mutants or inference from genome annotation.

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Figure 1: Candidiasis and invasive aspergillosis.
Figure 2: The high osmolarity glycerol (HOG) mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway in fungi.
Figure 3: The two-component signal proteins of Candida albicans and their domains.
Figure 4: The processes that precede and follow phagocytosis of Candida albicans yeast cells by neutrophils (left) and monocytes (right).

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Acknowledgements

Some of the data included were supported by NIH-NIAID grants to R.C. and by an NIH-Fogarty International award to R.C. and J.-P.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, 20057, DC, USA

    Neeraj Chauhan & Richard Calderone

  2. Aspergillus Unit, Institut Pasteur, 28, rue du Dr Roux, Paris, 75015, France

    Jean-Paul Latge

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  1. Neeraj Chauhan
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  2. Jean-Paul Latge
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Correspondence to Richard Calderone.

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DATABASES

Entrez Genome Project

Aspergillus fumigatus

Candida albicans

Neurospora crassa

Saccharomyces cerevisiae

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Aspergillus unit, Institut Pasteur

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Chauhan, N., Latge, JP. & Calderone, R. Signalling and oxidant adaptation in Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus. Nat Rev Microbiol 4, 435–444 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1426

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