title: Effects of conidia of various Aspergillus species on apoptosis of human pneumocytes and bronchial epithelial cells.
abstract: Aspergillus species can cause mycoses in human and animals. Previously, we demonstrated that A. fumigatus conidia from a human isolate inhibited apoptosis in human pneumocytes and bronchial epithelial cells. In the current study, we studied the effects of A. fumigatus conidia non-human origin and A. flavus, A. nidulans, A. niger and A. oryzae conidia on human cells apoptosis. Human pneumocytes or bronchial epithelial cells were simultaneously exposed to apoptotic inductors and aspergilli conidia. The cell cultures were analyzed by flow cytometry, immunoblotting, and examination of nuclear morphology. Similar to A. fumigatus conidia, A. flavus conidia inhibited cellular apoptosis while A. nidulans, A. niger and A. oryzae conidia did not affect apoptosis. We further studied the species specificity of conidia: there were no differences in the inhibition of apoptosis by A. fumigatus conidia from either human or bird isolates. In order to determine whether the inhibition of apoptosis by conidia is limited to certain strains, the effect on human cell apoptosis of different A. fumigatus human clinical isolates and A. fumigatus of environmental origin was evaluated. All A. fumigatus isolates inhibited apoptosis; an anti-apoptotic factor was released by conidia. For TNF-induced apoptosis, the anti-apoptotic effect of conidia of all isolates was found to be associated with a reduction of caspase-3 in human cells. The results suggest that suppression of apoptosis may play a role in reducing the efficacy of host defense mechanisms during infection with Aspergillus species.
authors.affiliation: INRA, AFSSA, ENVA, UMR 956; 22 rue Curie, 94700, Maisons Alfort Cedex, France.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Féménia
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Huet
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lair-Fulleringer
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sarfati
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shingarova
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guillot
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boireau
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chermette
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Berkova
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000502:physiology*; D001717:Birds / Q000382:microbiology; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001980:Bronchi / Q000166:cytology*; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D003513:Cycloheximide / Q000494:pharmacology; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000166:cytology*; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000502:physiology*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D003513:Cycloheximide; D053148:Caspase 3