title: Bax-induced cell death in Candida albicans.
abstract: Bax is a pro-apoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family of proteins involved in the regulation of genetically programmed cell death in mammalian cells. It has been shown that heterologous expression of Bax in several yeast species, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Pichia pastoris, also induces cell death. In this study we investigated the effects of Bax expression in the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans. Cell death inducing expression of Bax required a synthetic BAX gene that was codon-optimized for expression in Candida albicans. Expression of this BAX gene resulted in growth inhibition and cell death. By fusing Bax with the yeast enhanced green fluorescent protein of Aequoria victoria, the cell death-inducing effect of Bax was increased due to reduced proteolytic degradation of Bax. Using this fusion protein we showed that, upon expression in C. albicans, Bax co-localizes with the mitochondria. Furthermore, we showed for the first time that expression of Bax in yeast causes the mitochondria, which are normally distributed throughout the cell, to cluster in the perinuclear region.
authors.affiliation: Fundamental and Applied Molecular Biology, Department for Molecular Biomedical Research, Ghent University and VIB, Technologiepark 927, B-9052 Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kris
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: De Smet
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Eberhardt
authors.forename: Rieka
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reekmans
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Contreras
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D051379:Mice; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein
chemical_list: C494827:Bax protein, mouse; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein