Regulated overexpression of CDR1 in Candida albicans confers multidrug resistance.
OBJECTIVE
Information on the function of Candida albicans ATP-binding cassette (ABC) membrane transporter Cdr1p has come from studying the effect of gene inactivation in C. albicans and from heterologous Cdr1p expression in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These approaches, however, give only an indirect indication of Cdr1p function in C. albicans itself. The objective of this study was to determine Cdr1p function in C. albicans by induced overexpression of Cdr1p in a C. albicans CDR1-deleted strain.


METHODS
The C. albicans CDR1 open reading frame was fused to the C. albicans HEX1 promoter and used to complement a CDR1-null mutant to create strain FL3. The effect of inducing the FL3 HEX1 promoter, by growth on medium containing N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) as the carbon source, on CDR1 expression and drug susceptibility was determined.


RESULTS
C. albicans FL3 cells grown on medium containing GlcNAc overexpressed CDR1 mRNA and a 170 kDa plasma membrane protein that reacted with anti-Cdr1p antibodies. Overexpression of Cdr1p in C. albicans FL3 conferred resistance to structurally unrelated chemicals such as terbinafine, brefeldin A, cerulenin and nigericin as well as to azole antifungal agents, but not resistance to polyene antibiotics. FK506, ascomycin and ciclosporin A chemosensitized FL3 to fluconazole. FL3 cells grown on GlcNAc effluxed 5.3 times as much Cdr1p substrate rhodamine 6G, over a 10 min period, as FL3 cells grown on glucose, and this rhodamine 6G efflux was inhibited by including fluconazole in the assay.


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides the first direct demonstration of Cdr1p pump activity in C. albicans.
Department of Oral Sciences, University of Otago, PO Box 647, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Masakazu
M
Niimi
Kyoko
K
Niimi
Yukie
Y
Takano
Ann R
AR
Holmes
Frank J
FJ
Fischer
Yoshimasa
Y
Uehara
Richard D
RD
Cannon
D000118:Acetylglucosaminidase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D003470:Culture Media; D026141:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Fungal; D015725:Fluconazole / Q000494:pharmacology; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D006801:Humans; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D015854:Up-Regulation
D000935:Antifungal Agents; C094693:CDR1 protein, Candida albicans; D003470:Culture Media; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D015725:Fluconazole; D000118:Acetylglucosaminidase