Candida albicans cell wall

The mechanism of Ag(I) cytotoxicity is unknown. Cell wall damage may be important and it has been shown that Cys-150 in the enzyme phosphomannose isomerase, an essential enzyme for the biosynthesis of Candida albicans cell walls, is the Ag(I) target in this organism (330). Silver resistant bacteria are known, but only recently has significant progress been made in understanding the resistance mechanisms (637). 

Masuoka, J., Glee, P.M., and Hazen, K.C. (1998). Preparative isoelectric focusing and preparative electrophoresis of hydrohobic Candida albicans cell wall proteins with in-line transfer to polyvinylidene difluoride membranes for sequencing. Electrophoresis 19, 675-678. 

Candida albicans cell walls contain the fluorescent cross-linking amino acid dityrosine. Inf. Immun. 63, 4078-4083. 

Poulain D, Jouault T, Poulain D et al. Candida albicans cell wall glycans, host receptors and responses elements for a decisive crosstalk. Curr Opin Microbiol 2004 7 342-349. 

Sanjuan R., Zueco J., Stock R., Font de Mora J. Sentandreu R. (1995) Identification of glucan-mannoprotein complexes in the cell wall of Candida albicans using a monoclonal antibody that reacts with a (l,6)-/3-glucan epitope. Mzcroftzo/ogy, 141, 1545-1551. 

Chaffin, W. L. Lopez-Ribot, J. L. Casanova, M. Gozalbo, D. Martinez, J. P. Cell wall and secreted proteins of Candida albicans Identification, function, and expression. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 1998, 62,130-180. 

Fluoro amino acids have been incorporated into peptides, in order to ease the transport or reduce the systemic toxicity. Thus, trifluoroalanine, a powerful inhibitor of alanine racemase, is an essential enzyme for the biosynthesis of the cell wall of bacteria. It has a low antibiotic activity because of its very poor transport. In order to facilitate this transport, the amino acid has been incorporated into a peptide. This delivery allows a reduction of the doses, and thus the toxicity of the treatment is lowered.3-FIuorophenylaIanine (3-F-Phe) is a substrate of phenylalanine hydroxylase, which transforms it into 3-F-Tyr. 3-F-Tyr has a high toxicity for animals, due to its ultimate metabolization into fluorocitrate, a powerful inhibitor of the Krebs cycle (cf. Chapter 7). 3-F-Phe has a low toxicicity toward fungus cells, but when delivered as a tripeptide 3-F-Phe becomes an efficient inhibitor of the growth of Candida albicans. This tripeptide goes into the cell by means of the active transport system of peptides, where the peptidases set free the 3-F-Phe. ... 

Alloush, H.M. Lopez-Ribot, J.L. Masten, B.J. Chaffin, W.L. 3-Phosphogly-cerate kinase a glycolytic enzyme protein present in the cell wall of Candida albicans. Microbiology, 143, 321-330 (1997)... 

The only current therapeutic use of an unsaturated 1,4-dialdehyde in the Western hemisphere is the use of polygodial (Kolorex Capsules and Cream) to control localized candidiasis. According to the producer polygodial damages the cell wall of Candida albicans and other fungi (Sterner and Szallasi, 1999). 

Hoyer LL, Clevenger J, Hecht JE, Ehrhart EJ, Poulet FM Detection of Als proteins on the cell wall of Candida albicans in murine tissues. Infect Immun 1999 67 4251 255. 

The cell wall of the yeast Candida albicans contains glucan and mannan extractable with hot, aqueous alkali. Bishop and associates ... 

Fractions having different solubility characteristics were isolated by Kessler and Nickerson, following alkaline extraction of cell walls of strains of bakers yeast and Candida albicans. The alkali-insoluble... 

M. Nitz, C.-C. Ling, A. Otter, J. E. Cutler, and D. R. Bundle, The unique solution structure and immunochemistry of the Candida albicans /i-1,2-marmopyranan cell wall antigens, J. Biol. Chem., 211 (2002) 3440-3446. 

Although a variety of serologic tests have been proposed for the detection of Candida protein antigens, serum antibodies to Candida, and antibodies to cell wall components such as mannan, no test has demonstrated reliable accuracy in the clinical setting for the diagnosis of disseminated infection with Candida. Only 25% to 45% of neutropenic patients with disseminated candidiasis at autopsy had a positive blood culture with C. albicans prior to death. The interpretation of positive surveillance cultures of the skin, mouth, sputum, feces, or urine is hampered by their occurrence as commensal pathogens and in distinguishing colonization from invasive disease. 

Echinocandins inhibit formation of j3(l,3)D-glucans in the cell wall < /Candida and caspofungin is approved for clinical use. Susceptible fungi include Candida and Aspergillus species. Resistance can be conferred in C. albicans by mutation in one of the genes that encodes /3f l,3)D-glucan synthase. Azole-resistant isolates of C. albicans remain susceptible to echinocandins. 

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