• The Korean Journal of Mycology
• /
• v.39 no.1
• /
• pp.85-87
• /
• 2011

The opportunistic human pathogen Candida albicans has the ability to convert from yeast-form to pseudohyphal or true hyphal form. The morphological transition is considered as an important virulence factor, because the decrease or lack in dimorphism causes the reduction of virulence. Our previous study revealed that the disruption of dual specificity kinase gene caused the reduction of dimorphism in C. albicans. Therefore we tested the effect of dual specificity kinase in virulence using mouse model. The mean survival time for kinase-defective strains was about 15 days in comparison with those of wild-type, 3.9 days. Moreover the fungal burden on kidneys for kinase-defective strains was decreased by ten-fold than that for wild-type. These results suggest possible involvement of dual specificity kinase in a novel signal transduction pathway for morphological transition and virulence of C. albicans.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
• /
• v.9 no.12
• /
• pp.137-143
• /
• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate the antifungal inhibition mechanism of fruit vinegar drinks against Candida albicans. To evaluate the effect of vinegar drinks on the growth and morphological changes of C. albicans, we performed real-time PCR and phase contrast microscopy. All the groups added vinegar drink showed the inhibitory effect of C. albicans on growth compared to the control. The expression of genes ALS3, ECE1, HWP1, and Sap5 were decreased by vinegar drink. As a result of phase contrast microscopy, the group to which vinegar drink was added showed significant quantitative decrease, morphological change and inhibition of C. albicans. This study can be provided as basic data for the development of antibiotics by verifying the antifungal activity of vinegar drinks.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.423-434
• /
• 1986

The role of macrophages in the resistance of ICR mice to Candida albicans and Salmonella typhimurium was assessed using silica, agent which selectively inactivates macrophages or poly-2-vinylpyridine-N-oxide(PVNO), a lysosomal stabilizing agent. In addition, effect of silica on humoral and cellular immune responses to sheep red blood cells(SRBC) or polyvinylpyroridone(PVP) was examind. Colonyforming units(CFU) of C. albicans or S. typhimurium in the spleen, livers and kidneys of silica-treated or diluent-treated mice were enumerated at various times after infection. Silica was given i. v. to mice at 4 days or 1 day before infection. Although there was no apparent differences in the number of CFU of C. albicans cultured from the spleens or livers of silica-treated and control mice at every assay period, significant differences in the number of CFU of C. albicans in the kidneys of silica-treated and control mice. Namely, silica given to mice 1 day before infection significantly increased the number of CFU of C. albicans in the kidneys at 2, 4 and 6 days after infection, but did not change the number of CFU at 8 days after infection. Silica given to mice at 4 days before infection significantly increased the number CFU in the kidneys at 2 and 4 days after infection, but rather decreased the number of CFU at 8 days after infection. The number of CFU of C. albians cultured from the kidneys of splenectomized which were experimentally infected mice was similar to the number recovered from sham-operated mice at 4 and 8 days postinfection irrespective of time of infection relative to operation. The pretreatment of mice with PVNO appeared to abrogate the silica-induced susceptibility of mice to C. albicans. PVNO alone showed somewhat protective effect against challenge with C. albicans. In contrast, silica treatment did not alter the number of CFU of S. typhimurium recovered from the spleens and kidneys of mice. The administration of silica to mice at 4 days or 1 day before SRBC immunization significantly suppressed delayed-type hypersensitivity(DTH) reactions to SRBC and antibody production to SRBC, a thymus-dependent antigen and PVP, a thymus-independent antigen. These results provide evidence that macrophages play an important role in susceptibility to Candida infection and strongly demonstrated that macrophages play an essential role in the induction of immune responses in mice.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
• /
• v.47 no.3
• /
• pp.190-194
• /
• 2003

As previously reported, an immunoglobulin M (IgM) monoclonal antibody (MAb) B6.1, specific for a cell wall B-l,2-mannotriose, was protective against vaginal infection due to Candida albicans when mice were treated with the antibody. In this study, the role of neutrophil was examined in the protective effect of MAb B6.1 against vaginal infection. To deplete neutrophils, mice were given intravenously rat anti-mouse neutrophile MAb RB6-8C5 prior to intraperitoneal administration of MAb B6.1 to these mice. The mice were examined for antibody in their reproductive tract. By an ELISA, MAb B6.1 was found in the vaginal homogenates, but no antibody was detected in vaginal lavage materials. The neutropenia was induced by a single dose of the anti-neutrophil antibody, but lymphocytes were also partially depleted. The protective effect of MAb B6.1 was decreased when mice pretreated with MAb RB6-8C5 were given the anti-Candida antibody before challenge with C. albicans yeast cells intravaginally. These results show that neutrophils are involved in the MAb B6.1 protection against Candida vaginal infection.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.24 no.7
• /
• pp.905-913
• /
• 2014

Lj-RGD3, an RGD (Arg-Gly-Asp) toxin protein from the salivary gland of Lampetra japonica, exhibits antifungal activity against Candida albicans. Lj-RGD3 has three RGD motifs and shows homology to histidine-rich glycoprotein. We synthesised two mutant derivatives of Lj-RGD3: Lj-26, which lacks all three RGD motifs and contains no His residues; and Lj-112, which lacks only the three RGD motifs. We investigated the effects of the wild-type and mutated toxins on a gram-positive bacterium (Escherichia coli), a gram-negative bacterium (Staphylococcus aureus), and a fungus (C. albicans). rLj-RGD3 and its mutants exhibited antifungal but not antibacterial activity, as measured by a radial diffusion assay. The C. albicans inhibition zone induced by rLj-112 was larger than that induced by the other proteins, and its inhibitory effect on C. albicans was dose-dependent. In viable-count assays, the rLj-112 MIC was $7.7{\mu}M$, whereas the MIC of the positive control (ketoconazole) was $15{\mu}M$. Time-kill kinetics demonstrated that rLj-112 effectively killed C. albicans at $1{\times}$ and $2{\times}$ MIC within 12 and 6 h, respectively. Electron microscopy analysis showed that rLj-RGD3 and rLj-112 induced C. albicans lysis. Our results demonstrate a novel anticandidal activity for rLj-RGD3 and its mutant derivatives.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
• /
• v.47 no.4
• /
• pp.273-278
• /
• 2015

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the in-vitro efficacy of PDT using red light emitting diode (LED) with Radachlorin for biofilm inhibition of clinical Candida albicans isolates. The suspensions containing C. albicans at $9{\times}10^8CFU/mL$ were prepared on yeast nitrogen base containing 5% glucose. The biofilm formation was grown for 3 h after seeding suspensions each 100 ul on a 96-well plate and then supernatant was discarded. Each well was treated with $0.39{\mu}g/mL$ from $50{\mu}g/mL$ concentrations of Radachlorin on adherent biofilm. After a 30-minute incubation, light was irradiated for 30, 60, or 90 minutes using the following light source of wavelength 630 nm LED, at energy densities of 14, 29, and $43J/cm^2$. Afterwards, all supernatant was removed and dried. Adherent cells were stained with safranin O and dried. The cell viability was measured using a microplate reader at 490 nm. Also, a fluorescent signal on C. albicans was observed by saturation of a photosensitizer. In conclusion, a significant inhibition of 72.5% was observed to C. albicans on biofilm at the Radachlorin dose of $50{\mu}g/mL$ with 630 nm LED. The Photosensitizer (Radachlorin) was adequate at 30 minuttes for C. albicans. Overall, the results showed that inhibition of biofilm formation was Radachlorine dose-dependent. The results suggest that PDT, using Radachlorin with 630 nm LED, is able to decrease biofilm formation of C. albicans.

• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.258-262
• /
• 2007

The antifungal activity of the essential oil fraction from Thymus magus, and its major component thymol, against Candida albicans was investigated in vitro and in vivo. The combined effects of the oils and clotrimazole, a commonly used antifungal drug for treatment of external candidiasis, were evaluated in this study. In experimental vaginal candidiasis the essential oil fraction of T. magnus resulted in relatively milder inhibition of fungal growth following the inoculation of test mice compared to clotrimazole. However, new fungal growth was not detected up to 12 days after cessation of treatment. In contrast, in a similar experiment using clotrimazole, C. albicans was detected in the $12^{th}$ day post-treatment with the sample. This result indicates that T. magnus oil could be a promising drug to control vaginal candidiasis. In checkerboard titer tests, the combination of clotrimazole with the essential oil fraction of T. magus or T. quinquecostatus resulted in significant synergism, with FIC indices between 0.14 and 0.27 against C. albicans, while clotrimazole combined with thymol, the major component of these oils, produced only an additive effect, with FIC indices ranging between 0.50 and 1.00. Thus, the prominent synergistic effects of clotrimazole combined with T. magus essential oil indicate that these compounds may be an effective treatment for C. albicans infections.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.24 no.9
• /
• pp.1207-1215
• /
• 2014

Candida albicans, the major human fungal pathogen, undergoes morphological transition from the budding yeast form to filamentous growth in response to nitrogen starvation. In this study, we identified a new function of GST2, whose expression was required for filamentous growth of C. albicans under nitrogen-limiting conditions. The Gst2p showed Gst activity and required response to oxidative stress. The ${\Delta}gst2$ mutant displayed predominantly yeast phase growth in low ammonium media. Such morphological defect of ${\Delta}gst2$ mutants was not rescued by overexpression of Mep2p, Cph1p, or Efg1p, but was rescued by either overexpression of a hyperactive $RAS1^{G13V}$ allele or through exogenous addition of cyclic AMP. In addition, the ${\Delta}gst2$ mutants had lower levels of RAS1 transcripts than wild-type cells under conditions of nitrogen starvation. These results were consistent with the Ras1-cAMP pathway as a possible downstream target of Gst2p. These findings suggest that Gst2p is a significant component of nitrogen starvation-induced filamentation in C. albicans.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
• /
• v.55 no.3
• /
• pp.234-239
• /
• 2011

Glycycoumarin, a 3-arylcoumarine isolated from Glycyrrhizae radix (a family of Leguminosae), is reported to have anti-bacterial activity. However, its antifungal activity is still unknown. In this present study, the antifungal activity of glycycoumarin (GLM) against Candida albicans, a polymorphic fungus was investigated. Possible mechanism such as blocking of the hyphal induction was also analyzed. By the in-vitro susceptibility analysis, GLM showed anticandidal activity, resulting in an almost complete inhibition of the fungal growth at a concentration of 320 ${\mu}g/ml$, which was equivalent to the efficacy of fluconazole at the same dose. In the murine model of disseminated candidiasis GLM enhanced resistance of mice against the disseminated disease (P<0.05), resulting in 60% protection of GLM-treated mice group during a period of 21-day observation. As for its mechanism of the antifungal activity, GLM blocked hyphal production, one of the important of virulence factors by the fungus, from the yeast form of C. albicans (P<0.01). These data indicate that GLM may contribute to the perspectives that focus on the development of a novel agent with antifungal activity specific for C. albicans infection.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.28-34
• /
• 2002

Antigenicity of Rhodotrula rubra isolated from pulmonary tissue of pulmonary tuberculosis patients was studied by means of agglutination reaction with R. rubra whole cell antiserum. And the serological reactivity of crude polyfac charide from R. frubra, Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Candida, glabrata, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC 26603 with antiserum to R. rubra whole cell was studied by means of immunodiffusion test. R. rubra showed stationary phase after 48h when it was cultured in GYEP broth. While agglutinogen titer was 1:64 at lag phase, agglutinogen titer was 1 :256 after 20h. After growth of R. rubra on different 11 media, nutritional environment showed similar agglu-tination reartivity. The agglutinogen titer of C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. giabrata, which were isolated from patient's expectoration, to R. rubra antiserum by means of agglutination reaction were 1:16, respectively. But, Sacch. cervisiae ATCC26603 was negative. Those results were lower than that of R. rubra agglutinogen titer 1:256. As a result of immu-nodiffusion test with crude polysaccharide extracted from cell wall of R. rubra, C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata, Sacch. cervisiae ATCC26603, precipitin line was found only with R. rubra, of which antibody titer was 8.