title: The Absence of N-Acetyl-D-glucosamine Causes Attenuation of Virulence of Candida albicans upon Interaction with Vaginal Epithelial Cells In Vitro.
abstract: To better understand the molecular events underlying vulvovaginal candidiasis, we established an in vitro system. Immortalized vaginal epithelial cells were infected with live, yeast form C. albicans and C. albicans cultured in the same medium without vaginal epithelial cells were used as control. In both cases a yeast to hyphae transition was robustly induced. Whole transcriptome sequencing was used to identify specific gene expression changes in C. albicans. Numerous genes leading to a yeast to hyphae transition and hyphae specific genes were upregulated in the control hyphae and the hyphae in response to vaginal epithelial cells. Strikingly, the GlcNAc pathway was exclusively triggered by vaginal epithelial cells. Functional analysis in our in vitro system revealed that the GlcNAc biosynthesis is involved in the adherence to, and the ability to kill, vaginal epithelial cells in vitro, thus indicating the key role for this pathway in the virulence of C. albicans upon vulvovaginal candidiasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Allergology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary ; MTA-SZTE Dermatological Research Group, Hungary.
authors.forename: Máté
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manczinger
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bocsik
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Allergology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Gabriella F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Kocsis
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vörös
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Zoltán
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hegedűs
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Lilla
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ördögh
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Éva
authors.initials: É
authors.lastname: Kondorosi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Annamária
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marton
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Csaba
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vízler
authors.affiliation: Creative Laboratory Ltd., Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Vilmos
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tubak
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Mária
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Deli
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Allergology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary ; MTA-SZTE Dermatological Research Group, Hungary.
authors.forename: Lajos
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kemény
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: István
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nagy
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Allergology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary ; MTA-SZTE Dermatological Research Group, Hungary.
authors.forename: Lóránt
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lakatos
mesh_terms: D000117:Acetylglucosamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002181:Candidiasis, Vulvovaginal / Q000382:microbiology; D002460:Cell Line; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000382:microbiology*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D025301:Hyphae / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology*; D014774:Virulence / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000117:Acetylglucosamine