Polyphyllin I Effects Candida albicans via Inhibition of Virulence Factors

Abstract

Paris polyphylla is often used in Chinese medicine to treat conditions such as carbuncles, trauma, snake bites, and mosquito bites. In the present study, we investigated the effect and mechanism of the morphological transition and extracellular phospholipase activity of Candida albicans treated with polyphyllin I (PPI). First, the minimum inhibitory concentration and antifungal activity of PPI were evaluated using the multiple microdilution method and time-killing assays. Then, the effect of PPI on the morphological transition of Candida albicans in Spider liquid medium and Sabouraud-dextrose liquid medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum was observed under an inverted microscope and by scanning electron microscopy. Finally, egg yolk agar plates were used to evaluate extracellular phospholipase activity. Gene expression was detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis. Our results suggest that PPI inhibited the transition from the yeast to the hyphal stage and decreased secreted aspartyl proteinase activity. We further confirmed that PPI significantly downregulated the expression of extracellular phospholipase genes and cAMP-PKA signaling pathway-related genes. Taken together, our results suggest that PPI exerts anti-Candida albicans activity by inhibiting virulence characteristics, including the yeast-to-hyphal transition and the secretion of aspartyl proteases and phospholipases. The study results also indicated that PPI could be a promising therapeutic strategy for Candida albicans.

Polyphyllin I, a strong antifungal compound against Candida albicans

“…Combined with the cytotoxicity and bioactivity results from Sun et al. [31], our data suggested that PPI may be used for developing new antifungal therapies against C. albicans infections.…”

“…Our study uncovered a compound, PPI, with significant antifungal activities, which damages the cell membrane. Combined with the cytotoxicity and bioactivity results from Sun et al [31], our data suggested that PPI may be used for developing new antifungal therapies against C. albicans infections.…”

“…found that PPI could inhibit the planktonic and hyphal growth of another C. albicans strain CA23, which may confirm our results obtained from this study from the side, although different concentration units were used. They further showed that PPI inhibited the expression of extracellular phospholipase and genes associated with cAMP‐PKA signaling that governs the hyphal morphology [31].…”

Polyphyllin I alleviates neuroinflammation after cerebral ischemia–reperfusion injury via facilitating autophagy-mediated M2 microglial polarization

“…PPI is a bioactive phytochemical with molecular weight of 855.02 Da and chemical formula of C 44 H 70 O 16 . Emerging evidences prove that PPI has multiple bioactivities, including anti-cancer (Luo et al 2022 ), anti-inflammation (Wang et al 2018 ), anti-bacteria (Sun et al 2023 ) and anti-oxidant (Huang et al 2020 ). For example, PPI ameliorates pressure over-load induced cardiac dysfunction by suppressing Wnt/β-catenin pathway in a mice cardiac hypertrophy model (Li et al 2020 ).…”