The macrophage-derived protein PTMA induces filamentation of the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans.

ABSTRACT: Evasion of killing by immune cells is crucial for fungal survival in the host. For the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans, internalization by macrophages induces a transition from yeast to filaments that promotes macrophage death and fungal escape. Nutrient deprivation, alkaline pH, and oxidative stress have been implicated as triggers of intraphagosomal filamentation; however, the impact of other host-derived factors remained unknown. Here, we show that lysates prepared from macrophage-like cell lines and primary macrophages robustly induce C. albicans filamentation. Enzymatic treatment of lysate implicates a phosphorylated protein, and bioactivity-guided fractionation coupled to mass spectrometry identifies the immunomodulatory phosphoprotein PTMA as a candidate trigger of C. albican

SUBMITTER: Case NT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8454912 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature