No abstract

Pseudohyphal but not yeast forms of Candida albicans possess both iC3b and C3d receptors, as determined by rosetting with erythrocytes carrying iC3b (EAC3bi) or C3d (EAC3d). Rosetting with EAC3d was markedly reduced when pseudohyphae were heat killed or treated with trypsin or pronase but was not inhibited by several saccharides or aminosaccharides, including oL-methyl-D-mannoside, or by pretreatment of pseudohyphae with concanavalin A. However, mannoproteins obtained by concanavalin A affinity chromatography of whole pseudohyphal extracts inhibited the attachment of EAC3d to C. albicans, whereas soluble (nonmannosylated) proteins were less active. Thus, although the C3d receptors appeared to be glycosylated, the oligosaccharide component of the receptor was apparently not involved in the recognition of C3d. To isolate these receptors, whole-cell extracts were separated by DEAE-Trisacryl chromatography. Fractions that inhibited rosetting were pooled and affinity purified by C3d-Thiol-Sepharose chromatography. The eluate from this affinity column inhibited attachment of C. albicans to EAC3d. Monoclonal antibodies to C. albicans were prepared, and three of these antibodies blocked rosetting. Western blotting (immunoblotting) with these antibodies indicated the presence of 62and 70-kilodalton receptors for C3d in the extracts purified by C3d affinity chromatography and separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

Pseudohyphae of Candida albicans possess a receptor for C3d, a fragment of the complement component C3. This receptor was partially purified by using a monoclonal antibody (CA-A) that previously had been shown to inhibit the binding of C3d to C. albicans pseudohyphae. Purffied immunoglobulin G from ascites fluid (CA-A) was coupled to a cyanogen bromide-activated Sepharose column, and an affinity-purified fraction (A2) from C. albicans pseudohyphae was obtained. This fraction inhibited rosetting of the EAC3d receptor by pseudohyphae and appeared to contain glycoprotein, since receptor activity could be removed when A2 was incubated with lectins specific for mannose and glucose. A2 was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and two polypeptides of approximately 60 and 70 kilodaltons (kDa) were consistently identified in reducing gels. The 60-kDa protein was identified as a glycoprotein by concanavalin A binding. A2 was further analyzed by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Of three fractions obtained by HPLC, one containing the 60-kDa protein was found to have receptor activity. When analyzed by HPLC, this protein was found to contain mannose and glucose in approximately equal amounts. Both immunofluorescence and electron microscopy of pseudohyphae treated with CA-A identified A2 as a surface moiety. Thus, the C3d receptor of C. albicans, isolated with CA-A, is a glycoprotein of approximately 60 kDa.

Pseudohyphae of Candida albicans bear surface receptors for iC3b and C3d. In order to determine a possible role for these receptors in the pathogenesis of candidiasis, a spontaneous C. albicans mutant, m-10, which exhibits reduced ability to adhere in vitro to fibrin platelet clots and epithelial cells or to cause endocarditis in a rabbit model, and its parent wild-type (wt) strain were compared for receptor expression in rosetting assays with sheep erythrocytes carrying iC3b (EAC1423bi) or C3d (EAC1423d). An equally high attachment to wt and m-10 was seen with EAC1423d, whereas rosetting with EAC1423bi was reduced by 53% in m-10 compared with wt. In inhibition studies, rosetting of wt with EAC1423bi was markedly inhibited by culture filtrate, hyphal-cell extract, and DEAE-fractionated material prepared from wt (54, 87, and 70% decreases in rosetting, respectively), thus suggesting the presence of the soluble, functionally active iC3b receptor of C. albicans in each of these preparations. Minimal inhibition of iC3b rosetting, however, was seen with the identical materials from m-10 (21, 5, and 12%, respectively). All of the preparations from the two strains were equally effective in their inhibitory activities against rosetting of C3d. A human serum specimen obtained from a patient with chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis blocked iC3b rosetting of the wt strain almost completely. When used in an immunoblot, this serum recognized proteins of 68 to 71, 55, and 50 kilodaltons (kDa) in hyphal-cell extracts of the wt. With the same preparation of the avirulent mutant, only weak reactions with the 68to 71-kDa and 55-kDa proteins occurred, while the 50-kDa protein was not detectable. Taken together, these results indicate that the expression of the functionally active iC3b receptor on C. albicans may be involved in the virulence of the organism, possibly by mediating adherence to mammalian cells.

Mutant strains of Candida albicans were obtained by selecting for cells that escaped agglutination by a polyclonal antiserum raised against standard C. albicans serotype A isolate B311. Mutants were obtained from strains B311 and B792 and from four strains isolated from patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. All 15 tested mutants retained characteristic sugar assimilation patterns. All but one of the mutants retained the ability to form germ tubes and chlamydospores. Two mutants from an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-derived isolate were deficient in binding complement ligands iC3b and C3d, whereas another mutant was deficient in binding ligand iC3b but not C3d. The hyphae of these three mutants lacked antigens when examined by Western immunoblotting with monoclonal antibody Ca-A, which detects several glycoproteins, including C3d-binding proteins. One of the complement-binding-deficient mutants was tested for its ability to colonize the gastrointestinal tract of rabbits but did not differ from the wild-type parent in site or degree of colonization. The proton magnetic resonance spectra of bulk mannan carbohydrate extracted from tested mutants showed the loss of a signal characteristic of the mannosyl a-PO4 linkage; each mutant also had a distinct pattern of other changes.