Cellular interactions ofCandida albicanswith human oral epithelial cells and enterocytes

Abstract

SummaryThe human pathogenic fungus Candida albicans can cause systemic infections by invading epithelial barriers to gain access to the bloodstream. One of the main reservoirs of C. albicans is the gastrointestinal tract and systemic infections predominantly originate from this niche. In this study, we used scanning electron and fluorescence microscopy, adhesion, invasion and damage assays, fungal mutants and a set of fungal and host cell inhibitors to investigate the interactions of C. albicans with oral epithelial cells and enterocytes. Our data demonstrate that adhesion, invasion and damage by C. albicans depend not only on fungal morphology and activity, but also on the epithelial cell type and the differentiation stage of the epithelial cells, indicating that epithelial cells differ in their susceptibility to the fungus. C. albicans can invade epithelial cells by induced endocytosis and/or active penetration. However, depending on the host cell faced by the fungus, these routes are exploited to a different extent. While invasion into oral cells occurs via both routes, invasion into intestinal cells occurs only via active penetration.

Candida albicansdimorphism as a therapeutic target

“…Invasion of C. albicans into epithelial cells is mediated by two distinct processes: induced endocytosis and active penetration [36,39,40]. Induced endocytosis is a host-driven process triggered predominantly by interaction between the C. albicans invasin, Als3, and host E-cadherin.…”

“…Moderate High [36,39,40] Damage None High [40,86] Dissemination Within the bloodstream Across epithelial barriers; interepithelial [18,22,36,46] Iron acquisition via ferritin…”

Baofukang suppository promotes the repair of vaginal epithelial cells in response to candida albicans

“…Similar to the pathological processes of vulvovaginal candidiasis, the yeast and filamentous forms of C. albicans are capable of adhering and invading the VECs, enabling the fungal cells to translocate across the vaginal mucosal barrier. C. albicans invade the vaginal epithelial monolayer via two mechanisms: (1) induced endocytosis; or (2) active penetration (Zhu and Filler 2010;Dalle et al 2010;Naglik et al 2011). Endocytosis is defined as the engulfment of epithelial cells with membrane protrusions at the point of entry of the invading hypha, and active penetration is defined as hypha penetration on the epithelial cell surface at their apical side at the point of entry of an invading hypha (Dalle et al 2010).…”

“…C. albicans invade the vaginal epithelial monolayer via two mechanisms: (1) induced endocytosis; or (2) active penetration (Zhu and Filler 2010;Dalle et al 2010;Naglik et al 2011). Endocytosis is defined as the engulfment of epithelial cells with membrane protrusions at the point of entry of the invading hypha, and active penetration is defined as hypha penetration on the epithelial cell surface at their apical side at the point of entry of an invading hypha (Dalle et al 2010). The two mechanisms appear throughout the entire process of invasion, while the former occurs more frequently during the early-stage and the latter more frequently in the late-stage in vitro (Dalle et al 2010).…”

“…Endocytosis is defined as the engulfment of epithelial cells with membrane protrusions at the point of entry of the invading hypha, and active penetration is defined as hypha penetration on the epithelial cell surface at their apical side at the point of entry of an invading hypha (Dalle et al 2010). The two mechanisms appear throughout the entire process of invasion, while the former occurs more frequently during the early-stage and the latter more frequently in the late-stage in vitro (Dalle et al 2010). We also confirm that hypha formation is the key to fungal invasion and damage, and VK2 cells, when not fully damaged by fungal cells, can kill or "engulf " the attached C. albicans.…”