title: The putative autophagy regulator Atg7 affects the physiology and pathogenic mechanisms of Cryptococcus neoformans.
abstract: We investigated the involvement of the autophagy protein 7 (Atg7) in physiology and pathogenic potential of Cryptococcus neoformans.
  
  
  
  The C. neoformans gene encoding Atg7 was deleted by biolistic transformation for characterization of autophagy mechanisms, pigment formation, cell dimensions, interaction with phagocytes and pathogenic potential in vivo.
  
  
  
  ATG7 deletion resulted in defective autophagy mechanisms, enhanced pigmentation and increased cellular size both in vitro and in vivo. The atg7Δ mutant had decreased survival in the lung of infected mice, higher susceptibility to the killing machinery of different host phagocytes and reduced ability to kill an invertebrate host. These results connect Atg7 with mechanisms of pathogenicity in the C. neoformans model.
authors.affiliation: Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico em Saúde (CDTS), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Debora L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico em Saúde (CDTS), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernanda L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zamith-Miranda
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nimrichter
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jéssica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcos D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Julia Cv
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Reuwsaat
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Augusto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schrank
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Charley
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Staats
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Livia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kmetzsch
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marilene H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Vainstein
authors.affiliation: Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico em Saúde (CDTS), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.|Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcio L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001181:Arthropods / Q000382:microbiology; D001343:Autophagy / Q000502:physiology*; D000071193:Autophagy-Related Protein 7 / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D003453:Cryptococcosis / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D003455:Cryptococcus neoformans / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology*; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D017353:Gene Deletion; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D005800:Genes, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D007814:Larva / Q000382:microbiology; D008168:Lung / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009584:Nitrogen; D010100:Oxygen; D010586:Phagocytes; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000096:biosynthesis; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D013534:Survival; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: C502661:Atg7 protein, mouse; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D010860:Pigments, Biological; D000071193:Autophagy-Related Protein 7; D009584:Nitrogen; D010100:Oxygen
keywords: ATG7; Cryptococcus neoformans; autophagy; macrophages; virulence