Haemoperfused liver as an ex vivo model for organ invasion of Candida albicans

Abstract

To study invasion of the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans, several infection models have been established. This study describes the successful establishment of an ex vivo haemoperfused liver as a model to study invasion of C. albicans. Perfused organs from pigs could be kept functional for up to 12 h. By comparing a non-invasive and invasive strain of C. albicans and by following a time course of invasion, it was shown that the invasion process in the perfused liver infection model is very similar to the in vivo situation after intraperitoneal infection of mice. The advantage of this set-up compared with other models of invasion is discussed.

In vivo and ex vivo comparative transcriptional profiling of invasive and non‐invasive Candida albicans isolates identifies genes associated with tissue invasion

“…To enhance the power of our analysis, we compared the transcriptional profiles of the two C. albicans strains SC5314 and ATCC10231 in an ex vivo haemoperfused liver invasion model (Thewes et al ., 2007). This approach enabled us to identify common genes that were associated with the invasion of C. albicans into a parenchymal organ (either mouse or pig liver).…”

The Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-Anchored Protease Sap9 Modulates the Interaction ofCandida albicanswith Human Neutrophils

“…Polymorphism of C. albicans, enabling morphological plasticity in response to ambient conditions, is known to contribute to its virulence. Filamentation of C. albicans is associated with tissue destruction and invasion (14,25,51,58,59). In addition to filamentation, secreted aspartic proteases of C. albicans (Saps) have been shown to be involved in the infection process (for reviews, see references 32 and 33).…”

Adaptation, adhesion and invasion during interaction of Candida albicans with the host – Focus on the function of cell wall proteins

“…These include for example skin models consisting of primary keratinocytes growing on a collagen matrix containing dermal fibroblasts (Dieterich et al, 2002) as well as RHE to which neutrophils (PMNs) have been added (Schaller et al, 2004). Furthermore, explanted endothelial cells as well as endothelial cell lines and ex vivo tissues of different origin up to explanted organs like swine liver or intestines as well as adult mouse colon have been developed as infection models (Bareiss et al, 2008;Dixon, 1987;Filler et al, 1995;Mayer et al, 1992;Thewes et al, 2007;Wendland et al, 2006).…”