Lipid rafts in Cryptococcus neoformans concentrate the virulence determinants phospholipase B1 and Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase.

ABSTRACT: Lipid rafts have been identified in the membranes of mammalian cells, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans. Formed by a lateral association of sphingolipids and sterols, rafts concentrate proteins carrying a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor. We report the isolation of membranes with the characteristics of rafts from the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans. These characteristics include insolubility in Triton X-100 (TX100) at 4 degrees C, more-buoyant density within a sucrose gradient than the remaining membranes, and threefold enrichment with sterols. The virulence determinant phospholipase B1 (PLB1), a GPI-anchored protein, was highly concentrated in raft membranes and could be displaced from them by treatment with the sterol-sequeste

SUBMITTER: Siafakas AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1398056 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature