Candida albicans dimorphism as a therapeutic target

Figures & data

Figure 1. Candida albicans morphology during interaction with host cells.

(A) Histological section showing C. albicans hyphae invading the murine liver 24 h after intraperitoneal infection. Scale bar = 100 µm. (B) Scanning electron microscopy of C. albicans invasion into oral epithelial cells after 3 h coincubation. A C. albicans hypha penetrates the epithelial cell, grows through the cell, exits the epithelial cell and invades another epithelial cell. The second hyphal cell is not invasive. Scale bar = 3 µm. Kindly provided by Gudrun Holland and Norbert Bannert (Robert Koch Institut, Berlin). (C) Fluorescence microscopy picture of human macrophages (J774) interacting with C. albicans cells after 2 h of coincubation. Red: macrophages; pink: extracellular C. albicans; blue: intracellular C. albicans. Two C. albicans hyphae have pierced a macrophage to escape (arrows). Scale bar = 100 µm.

Table 1. Examples of morphology-dependent activities of Candida albicans during infection.

Fungal activity	Morphology		Ref.
	Yeast	Hyphae
Expression of hyphal-associated genes	Under certain conditions	Per definition	[19,20,26,28]
Adhesion	Moderate	Strong	[40,86]
Invasion • Induced endocytosis • Active penetration	Low None	Moderate High	[36,39,40]
Damage	None	High	[40,86]
Dissemination	Within the bloodstream	Across epithelial barriers; interepithelial	[18,22,36,46]
Iron acquisition via ferritin	Not described	Via Als3	[43]
Escape from phagocytes	Not described	Yes	[19,47,60]

Table 2. Examples of morphology-dependent interaction of host cells with Candida albicans.

Host cell	Morphology		Ref.
	Yeast	Hyphae
Neutrophils
Attraction	Weak	Strong	[61]
Phagocytosis	Low	High	[61]
Killing of C. albicans	Efficient	Efficient	[61,62]
IL-8 production	Moderate	High	[61]
Macrophages/monocytes
Phagocytosis	High for viable yeast Low for inactivated yeast	Low for viable hyphae High for inactivated hyphae	[63,64]
Killing of C. albicans	Efficient	Efficient	[66]
Cytokine production	Differences depending on host cell type and cytokine	Differences depending on host cell type and cytokine	[65,66]
Dendritic cells
Phagocytosis	High	High	[60,70]
Killing	High	Moderate	[60,70]
Cytokine production	IL-12 p70	IL-4	[60,70]
Th1 response	Activated	Inhibited	[60,70]
Epithelial cells
Activation of NF-κB and c-Jun	Yes	Yes	[58]
Activation of c-Fos and MKP1	No	Yes, dose dependent	[58]
Proinflammatory cytokines	No	Yes, dose dependent	[58]

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