Kicking sleepers out of bed: Macrophages promote reactivation of dormant Cryptococcus neoformans by extracellular vesicle release and non-lytic exocytosis.

ABSTRACT: Macrophages play a key role in disseminated cryptococcosis, a deadly fungal disease caused by Cryptococcus neoformans. This opportunistic infection can arise following the reactivation of a poorly characterized latent infection attributed to dormant C. neoformans. Here, we investigated the mechanisms underlying reactivation of dormant C. neoformans using an in vitro co-culture model of viable but non-culturable (VBNC; equivalent of dormant) yeast cells with bone marrow-derived murine macrophages (BMDMs). Comparative transcriptome analysis of BMDMs incubated with log, stationary phase or VBNC cells of C. neoformans showed that VBNC cells elicited a reduced transcriptional modification of the macrophage but retaining the ability to regulate genes important for immune response, such as NLRP3

SUBMITTER: de Castro RJA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10715671 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature