<i>Cryptococcus neoformans</i> serotype A virulence and pathogenicity are capsular glucuronoxylomannan (GXM) motif composition dependent.

ABSTRACT: The Cryptococcus neoformans capsular extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) plays an essential role in virulence and host immunomodulation. In this study, we analyzed the virulence of four serotype A C. neoformans strains with different polysaccharide structures: two multi-motif (H99 and KN99α) and two single-motif (Mu-1 and ATCC-24064 (24064)). Mice were infected by the intranasal (IN) or intravenous (IV) route. Survival, fungal load (colony-forming unit), cell lung population, cytokines, and histology were analyzed. No differences in cell size or capsule size were found between the four strains. However, polysaccharide sizes were highly variable, and no significant differences were observed for all other virulence factors. Nitrite production in cell culture dendritic cells was

SUBMITTER: Rodrigues Dos Santos Junior S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12607832 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature