title: Galectin-3 plays an important role in protection against disseminated candidiasis.
abstract: Recent in vitro studies have implicated galectin-3 as an important receptor in host recognition and response to specific Candida species; however, its role in protection against disseminated candidiasis in vivo has not been evaluated. This study investigated the importance of galectin-3 in host defense against systemic infection with the highly virulent species Candida albicans, and the less virulent species, C. parapsilosis. Mice deficient in galectin-3 (gal3-/-) were more susceptible to infection than wild-type (WT) mice. When infected with C. albicans, gal3-/- mice died significantly faster and exhibited a trend towards increased fungal burden and increased abscess formation in infected brains compared to WT mice. When infected with C. parapsilosis, gal3-/- mice had significantly higher renal fungal burdens and abscess formation compared to WT mice. To evaluate whether galectin-3 may contribute to susceptibility to candidiasis in human infants, galectin-3 levels in sera of newborn infants, a patient population uniquely susceptible to infections with both C. albicans and C. parapsilosis, were compared to serum galectin-3 levels of adults. Galectin-3 levels were significantly lower in newborn infant sera compared to adult sera. These data indicate that galectin-3 plays an important role in a murine model of disseminated candidiasis and suggest a potential mechanism of neonatal susceptibility to these infections.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Pathobiology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02905, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Linden
authors.forename: Monique E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: De Paepe
authors.forename: Sonia S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Laforce-Nesbitt
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bliss
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001798:Blood Proteins; D002175:Candida / Q000276:immunology* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000276:immunology*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D005260:Female; D037502:Galectin 3 / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D037161:Galectins; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007668:Kidney / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D001798:Blood Proteins; D037502:Galectin 3; D037161:Galectins; C428445:LGALS3 protein, human; C485095:Lgals3 protein, mouse