Candida albicans (C. albicans) constitui um fungo comum nas mucosas do trato gastrointestinal, incluindo cavidade bucal, que pode ocasionar candidose local ou invasiva, principalmente em estados de imunossupressão. Os mecanismos de defesa contra este fungo podem ser desencadeados pela ligação dos receptores de reconhecimento de padrões, TLR2 e dectina-1, aos seus ligantes, como a fosfolipomanana e os -glucanos encontrados na parede celular de C. albicans. Os mastócitos possuem estes receptores em sua membrana celular e residem nas interfaces com o ambiente, podendo constituir umas das primeiras linhas de defesa. Seus mecanismos imunes incluem síntese e secreção de mediadores, apresentação de antígenos, bem como atividades fagocitária e microbicida. Todos estes mecanismos de defesa podem ser desencadeados de forma independente ou cooperativa entre os receptores TLR2 e dectina-1. Deste modo, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar in vitro a ocorrência de fagocitose, a geração de óxido nítrico e peróxido de hidrogênio pelos mastócitos desafiados ou não com C. albicans, e a participação do TLR2 e dectina-1 nesses eventos. Para isto, mastócitos, diferenciados da medula óssea (BMMCs) de camundongos selvagens (BMMCs Wt) ou TLR2-/- (BMMCs TLR2-/-) foram desafiados com C. albicans. Células eram também bloqueadas in vitro com anticorpos específicos anti-dectina-1(BMMCs BD-1 e BMMCs TLR2-/-/BD-1). Os eventos foram analisados por meio de ensaio fluorescente de fagocitose, método colorimétrico de Griess e pelos kits DAF-FM diacetato, Cell Rox Deep e Amplex Red. Os resultados foram expressos através de porcentagem, valores médios e desvios padrão, obtidos a partir de pelo menos três experimentos independentes. As análises estatísticas foram realizadas através do teste ANOVA fatorial, seguido de Fischer. Entre os BMMCs Wt, houve maior taxa de fagocitose com uma maior produção intracelular de NO aos 60 minutos em comparação aos outros tempos. A liberação extracelular de NO foi maior aos 120 minutos em relação aos outros tempos. O número de leveduras fagocitadas aumentou com o tempo, porém com diferença significante somente entre os tempos de 30 e 120 minutos. Entre os BMMCs TLR2-/-, houve maior número de leveduras fagocitadas aos 60 minutos em comparação aos 120 minutos. Porém, a liberação extracelular de NO foi menor aos 60 minutos em relação aos outros tempos. Comparando-se com os BMMCs Wt, os BMMCs TLR2-/- apresentaram uma redução na taxa de fagocitose, aos 60 minutos, menor liberação de NO extracelular, em todos os tempos, e menor número de leveduras fagocitadas aos 120 minutos. Comparando-se com os BMMCs Wt, os BMMCs BD-1 e os BMMCs TLR2-/-/BD-1 apresentaram uma redução na taxa de fagocitose com uma menor produção intracelular de NO, aos 60 minutos, e menor liberação de NO extracelular, aos 60 e 120 minutos. Comparando-se com os BMMCs Wt, os BMMCs TLR2-/-/BD-1 apresentaram uma maior produção de NO intracelular, aos 30 minutos, e menor número de leveduras fagocitadas aos 60 e 120 minutos. Sendo assim, concluímos que os mastócitos são capazes de fagocitar C. albicans com concomitante produção de substâncias potencialmente candidacidas. Concluímos também que estes mecanismos envolvem o reconhecimento do fungo via TLR2 e dectina-1, principalmente de forma sinérgica. / Candida albicans (C. albicans) is a common fungus present in gastrointestinal tract mucosa including oral cavity, which may cause local or invasive candidiasis, especially in immunosuppression. The mechanisms of defense against this fungus may be triggered by the binding of the pattern recognition receptors TLR2 and dectin-1 to its ligands, such as phospholipomannan and -glucans found in the cell wall of C. albicans. Mast cells express these receptors on cell membrane and reside in the interfaces with the environment, and may be one of the first lines of defense. Their immune mechanisms include synthesis and secretion of mediators, antigen presentation, as well as phagocytic and microbicidal activities. These mechanisms can be triggered independently or cooperatively by TLR2 and dectin-1. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate in vitro the phagocytosis, the generation of nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide by mast cells challenged or not with C. albicans, and the involvement of TLR2 and dectin-1 receptors in these mechanisms. Bone marrow-derived mast cell (BMMCs) from wild type mice (BMMCs Wt) or TLR2-/- (BMMCs TLR2-/-) was challenge with C. albicans. Cells were also in vitro blocked with specific anti-dectin-1 antibodies (BMMCs BD-1 and BMMCs TLR2-/-BD-1). The mechanisms were analyzed using fluorescent phagocytosis assay, Griess colorimetric method and by DAF-FM diacetate, CellRox® Deep Reagent and Amplex® Red enzyme assays. Results were expressed by percentage, mean and standard deviations obtained from the least three independent experiments. Statistic was performed using factorial ANOVA and Fischer. Among BMMCs Wt, there was higher phagocytosis rate associated with increased intracellular NO production at 60 minutes, comparing to other periods. The extracellular release of NO was higher at 120 minutes comparing to other periods. The number of phagocytized yeasts increased over time, however with significant difference only among the 30 and 120 minutes. Among BMMCs TLR2-/-, there was higher number of phagocytized yeast at 60 minutes compared to 120 minutes. However, the extracellular release of NO at 60 minutes was lower comparing to other periods. In comparison to BMMCs Wt, the BMMCs TLR2-/- showed a reduction in the phagocytosis rate, at 60 minutes, lower release of extracellular NO, at all times, and fewer numbers of phagocytized yeast at 120 minutes. Compared to BMMCs Wt, the BMMCs BD-1 and BMMCs TLR2-/-/BD-1 showed a reduction in the phagocytosis rate with lower intracellular NO production, at 60 minutes, and decrease of extracellular NO release, at 60 and 120 minutes. Comparing to BMMCs Wt, the BMMCs TLR2-/-/BD-1 showed increased production of intracellular NO, after 30 minutes, and fewer phagocytized yeast, at 60 and 120 minutes. Therefore, we conclude that mast cells are able to phagocytose C. albicans with concomitant production of the potentially microbicidal substances. Also conclude that these mechanisms involve the fungal recognition via TLR2 and dectin-1, especially by means of synergistic way.

La phophomannose isomérase de type I (PMI), une métalloenzyme à zinc, et la phosphoglucose isomérase (PGI), catalysent l’isomérisation réversible du β-D-fructose-6-phosphate (F6P), respectivement en β-D-mannose-6-phosphate (M6P) et en α-D-glucose-6-phosphate (G6P). Ces deux enzymes sont des cibles thérapeutiques potentielles. La phosphoglucose isomérase humaine (hPGI), connu également sous le nom de facteur de motilité autocrine (AMF), stimule, en plus de son activité glycolytique intracellulaire, la migration des cellules in vitro et le développement de métastases in vivo. D'autre part, Candida albicans est la principale levure impliquée en pathologie humaine. Ces dernières années, un problème de résistance du germe aux antifongiques classiques est apparu. En conséquence, la recherche se dirige vers de nouvelles cibles thérapeutiques, dont la PMI de C. albicans (CaPMI) qui joue un rôle important dans la biosynthèse de structures mannosylées nécessaires à la survie du pathogène. Les réactions catalysées par ces deux enzymes mettent en jeu le même intermédiaire de haute énergie (IHE) de type 1,2-cis-ènediolate, sauf qu’il est coordiné au zinc dans le cas de la PMI. La surexpression ainsi que la purification de CaPMI et de hPGI ont été réalisées au laboratoire. Une petite chimiothèque a été créée à partir du 5-phospho-D-arabinono-1,4-lactone (5-PAL) en modulant la partie tête de l’IHE. Un groupe chélatant du zinc (zinc binding group, ZBG) a été introduit dans plusieurs composés dans le but d’inhiber sélectivement CaPMI. De plus, deux composés possédant en partie tête une fonction amine terminale ont été synthétisés pour inhiber spécifiquement la PGI humaine en ciblant un résidu glutamate du site actif de l'enzyme (Glu357). Toutes ces molécules ont d’abord été testées sur la PGI du muscle de lapin et la PMI de E. coli commerciales, et par la suite sur la CaPMI et la hPGI surexprimées. Une série de bons voire très bons inhibiteurs de hPGI, et donc potentiellement anti-métastatiques, a été découverte. Ces composés ne sont cependant pas inhibiteurs de la CaPMI. Deux structures tridimensionnelles à haute résolution de complexes enzyme-inhibiteur ont été obtenues. Au delà des aspects thérapeutiques, mécanistiques et structuraux, un biocapteur électrochimique à base d'un des inhibiteurs synthétisés a été réalisé pour la détection de hPGI qui est un biomarqueur validé de cancers métastatiques. Ce biocapteur a démontré une limite de détection de 43 fM dans du tampon phosphate (PBS). / Phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI) and type I phosphomannose isomerase (PMI), a zinc metalloenzyme, catalyze the reversible isomerization of β-D-fructose 6-phosphate (F6P) to α-D-glucose 6-phosphate (G6P) and β-D-mannose 6-phosphate (M6P), respectively. These two enzymes are potential therapeutic targets. Human PGI (hPGI) often called as AMF-PGI (autocrine motility factor-PGI), in addition to its intracellular glycolytic activity, stimulates cell migration in vitro and metastasis in vivo. Inhibition of its extracellular activity is obviously interesting in oncology. On the other hand, Candida albicans is the main yeast involved in human pathology. During recent years, resistance of this pathogenic fungus to conventional antifungal drugs appeared. Consequently, research is moving towards new therapeutic targets, including C. albicans PMI (CaPMI) that plays an important role in the biosynthesis of mannosylated structures required for pathogen survival. The reactions catalyzed by these two enzymes involve the same high energy intermediate (HEI) type 1,2-cis-enediolate, except that it is coordinated to the zinc active site in the case of PMI. Overexpression and purification of both CaPMI and hPGI were performed in our laboratory. A small chemical library was created from the synthon 5-phospho-D-arabinono-1,4-lactone (5-PAL) by modulating the head part of the HEI. A zinc binding group (ZBG) was introduced in several compounds in order to selectively inhibit the CaPMI enzyme. Moreover, two compounds with a terminal amine function were designed to selectively inhibit hPGI by targeting a glutamate residue of the enzyme (Glu357). All these molecules were first tested on rabbit muscle PGI and PMI from E. coli, and later on CaPMI and hPGI. None of these compounds are good inhibitors of CaPMI. However, a series of strong inhibitors of hPGI, and therefore potentially anti-metastatic drugs, was discovered. High-resolved 3D structures of the two enzymes complexed with inhibitors have been successfully obtained. Beyond the therapeutic, mechanistic and structural aspects, an electrochemical biosensor based on one of the synthesized inhibitors was carried out for the detection of hPGI, which is a validated biomarker of metastatic cancers. This biosensor demonstrated a detection limit of 43 fM in phosphate buffer (PBS).

Orientador: Nasser Ali Daghastanli / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do ABC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biossistemas, 2012

Among fungal pathogens responsible for opportunistic infections, species of the genus Candida have a major role (Mitchell, 1998). Various Candida species cause superficial infections which can be cured by the currently available antifungal arsenal (Noble and Johnson, 2007). However, species of the genus Candida are also responsible for life-threatening systemic infections, particularly in immunocompromised patients with weakened immune system. Among Candida species, C. albicans, which can also be a commensal of the skin and the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts, is responsible for the majority of Candida bloodstream infections. However, there is an increasing incidence of infections caused by C. glabrata because it is less susceptible to azoles. Other medically important Candida species include C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis and C. dubliniensis. The problem has been further worsened by the emergence of many drug resistant isolates which pose a major hurdle during a given treatment regimen. Therefore, there is a dire need to identify novel drug targets and the current study focuses on one such protein found in C. albicans and related Candida species. CaGAL102 does not encode a functional galactose epimerase CaGAL102 was previously identified in the lab as a paralog of CaGAL10. CaGAL10 endoes a functional UDP-galactose 4-epimerase and it can complement a Scgal10 null strain. Further, work on the Gal10 protein in the encapsulated yeast Cryptococcus neoformans identified two Gal10 paralogs in the genome, Uge1 and Uge2 with distinct functions (Moyrand et al., 2008). A similar scenario is found in S. pombe in which two Gal10 sequence homologs have been annotated. In the light of these observations, we wanted to test if CaGAL102 also encodes a functional ScGAL10 homolog. We found that CaGAL102 could not complement Scgal10 null strain though there was a strong conservation in the cofactor and the catalytic motif in both the proteins. We found after a careful literature review that Gal10 belongs to a family of proteins called the short chain dehydratase/reductase family (SDR) (Jornvall et al., 1995), members of which are characterised by the presence of glycine rich cofactor binding motif at the N-terminus and an YXXXK catalytic motif. Proteins belonging to the SDR family have a residue level identity of 15-30% indicating early duplication and divergence. Based on our literature survey we carried out a BLAST search in the NCBI protein database using CaGal102 as the bait protein. We found that CaGal102 is 32% identical at the protein level to dTDP-glucose 4,6 dehydratase (RmlB), another member of the SDR family. RmlB is the second enzyme of the rhamnose biosynthetic pathway which gives rise to dTDP-rhamnose. This pathway is involved in cell wall biosynthesis in bacteria and it has been shown that rmlB is essential for growth of Mycobacterium smegmatis (Li et al, 2006). Interestingly rhamnose is not present in the cell wall of C. albicans. Biochemical characterisation of CaCaGal102 A plant homolog of RmlB is found in A. thaliana which uses UDP-glucose as the substrate (Oka et al., 2007). Based on our alignment data we identified many critical residues in CaGal102. Most importantly we identified that lysine at position 159 lies in the YXXXK motif and could be important for activity. We therefore, mutated the lysine at position 159 to alanine. In order to find out the biochemical function of CaGal102 in vitro, we cloned expressed and purified recombinant wild type and catalytic mutant proteins from E. coli and used the purified proteins for our assays. We found that CaGal102 uses UDP-glucose as the preferred substrate. To further substantiate our data, we reintegrated the wild type or the mutant alleles in the native locus of CaGAL102 and checked for the rescue of morphology defects like filamentation and sensitivity to cell wall damaging agents. We also found that the Cagal102∆/∆ strain is avirulent in a mouse model of systemic infection. We have also carried out infection studies with the null mutant and the wild type and the catalytic mutant reintegrant strains. Our observation suggests that reintegrating one copy of the wild type allele rescues the virulence defect. Interestingly the strain harbouring one copy of the mutant allele behaves like the null mutant in a mouse model of systemic infection. We have also identified sequence homologs of CaGal102 in related Candida species. It is plausible to think that the homologs in related species also have similar effects and hence targeting this protein by a small molecule could help in treating candidiasis caused by related species. CaGAL102 is involved in cell wall architecture in C. albicans To elucidate the role of CaGal102 in C. albicans we generated a knockout out strain and studied various mutant phenotypes. The most striking observation was that the cells of the null mutant were filamentous as compared to the wild type control when grown in normal rich media. Further the cells were sensitive to various cell wall damaging agents and also to hygromycin B. We reasoned that lack of CaGal102 causes perturbation in the cell wall architecture rendering the cells sensitive to various cell wall damaging agents. To further strengthen this hypothesis, we decided to study the genetic interaction of CaGAL102 with genes known to be involved in cell wall biosynthesis in C. albicans. One of the candidate genes we chose for our study was GAL10, deletion of which in C. albicans renders the cells sensitive to various cell wall damaging agents. Loss of function of UGE1 in C. neoformans impaired biosynthesis of a cell wall component, galactoxylomannan. We found that cells lacking both Gal102 and Gal10 adhered to nylon membranes poorly as compared to single mutants or the wild type control. The second gene we chose was a P-type ATPase, PMR1 deletion of which causes increased sensitivity to cell wall damaging agents and hyper-activation of the cell wall integrity pathway similar to Cagal102∆/∆ strain. We found that cells lacking both Pmr1 and Gal102 were more sensitive to hygromycin B as compared to the single mutants. This confirmed our idea that CaGal102 is a novel gene involved in cell wall biogenesis in C. albicans. REFERENCES: Mitchell, A.P. (1998) Dimorphism and virulence in Candida albicans. Curr Opin Microbiol, 1, 687-692. Noble, S.M. and Johnson, A.D. (2007) Genetics of Candida albicans, a diploid human fungal pathogen. Annu Rev Genet, 41, 193-211. Moyrand, F., Lafontaine, I., Fontaine, T. and Janbon, G. (2008) UGE1 and UGE2 regulate the UDP-glucose/UDP-galactose equilibrium in Cryptococcus neoformans. Eukaryot Cell, 7: 2069-2077. Jornvall Hans, Persson Bengt, Krook Maria,‟ Atrian Silvia, Gonzalez-Duarte Roser, Jeffery Jonathan, and Ghosh Debashis (1995). Short-Chain Dehydrogenases Reductases (SDR). Biochemistry, 34: 6004-13. Li, W., Xin, Y., McNeil, M.R. and Ma, Y. (2006) rmlB and rmlC genes are essential for growth of mycobacteria. Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 342: 170-178. Oka, T., Nemoto, T. and Jigami, Y. (2007) Functional analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana RHM2/MUM4, a multidomain protein involved in UDP-D-glucose to UDP-L-rhamnose conversion. J Biol Chem, 282: 5389-5403.

Candida albicans is an opportunistic pathogen that is present in the normal flora in a majority of individuals. One key factor in C. albicans virulence is the ability to change its morphology from yeast to an elongated or hyphal form. The regulation of this morphogenesis relies in part upon quorum sensing (QS) molecules. C. albicans often exists as part of a mixed culture alongside other microbes and is influenced by their presence as well as the presence of QS molecules that they produce. In this study, a library of diploid homozygous transcriptional regulator knockout (TRKO) mutants were screened to identify strains capable of forming hyphae in the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli. We identified three strains that showed increased hyphae development compared to wild type C. albicans. The strains identified had deletions of the transcriptional regulating genes Orf19.3928, Orf19.2842 (GZF3), and Orf19.3865 (RFX1). These strains were tested for alterations of filamentation in liquid media, and biofilm formation. All three strains showed increased rates of biofilm formation compared to the wild type. Orf19.3928 showed altered response to farnesol, a marked in biofilm formation and no inhibition of filamentation when farnesol was present in liquid media. The GZF3 deletion strain showed enhanced filamentation with all three bacterial species while the RFX1 deletion strain showed increased filamentation only with E. coli and S. aureus. In spent media, GZF3 showed slight increases in filamentation in E. coli and S. aureus while RFX1 had moderate increases in filamentation in E. coli and S. aureus and slight increases with P. aeruginosa.

Study of cell signalling pathways affected by pathogen entry comprises a fundamental aspect of understanding host-pathogen interactions. In this respect, the current study attempted to ascribe novel roles to Bone Morphogenesis Protein (BMP) signaling during infection. BMP pathway has been majorly studied in context of development where it plays an imperative role and its contribution to immunity has been poorly documented. Subsequent narrative talks about the perturbation of BMP signaling in context of specific signaling networks and its collaboration with other molecular players of host innate armamentarium. There is a pressing need to develop effective chemotherapy against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, which has garnered the world’s attention as a leading cause of public health emergency. The tyrosine kinase, c-Abl was previously reported to be activated in murine bone marrow derived macrophages infected with mycobacteria. Yet, the identities of host signaling players and mechanisms exploited by mycobacteria in association with c-Abl lacked identification. Here, we deciphered an intricate signaling mechanism linking tyrosine kinase c-Abl, chromatin modifier, lysine acetyl transferase KAT5 and transcription factor, TWIST1 acting at Bmp2 and Bmp4 promoters. This molecular circuitry was observed to affect mycobacterial survival. Emerging studies suggest repurposing of c-Abl inhibitor, Imatinib, as an adjunct to existing anti-tuberculosis therapy. Through the use of Imatinib in an established model of tuberculosis, we demonstrated the ability of c-Abl inhibitors in potentiating innate immune responses. Distinctive instances report the cross regulation among Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRRs). Interestingly, TLR3 signaling cascade induced in response to its cognate ligand was dampened through c-Abl-BMP induced miR27a. TLR3 is known to activate immune surveillance upon viral infections; however, recent studies also suggest its role in tumour regression and induction of apoptosis. Our observation of mycobacteria elicited down regulation of TLR3 pathway corroborated with increased incidences of lung cancer among TB patients and mycobacterial evasion of a well characterized form of cell-death i.e. apoptosis. Further, we utilized a panel of such Mtb mutants associated with virulence and questioned their relevance in the activation of c-Abl-dependent BMP signaling. We found that nitric oxide, hypoxia and carbon monoxide-responsive mycobacterial WhiB3 and DosR, but not the sec-dependent protein secretion pathway, orchestrate mycobacteria driven c-Abl-BMP signaling. Continuing with the theme of exploring roles for BMP signaling during infection, we identified an important role for the C-type Lectin Receptor (CLR), Dectin-2, in activating Candida albicans-driven BMP signaling. Mounting evidences suggest BMP antagonists promote repair and regeneration in cells of varied lineages. We observed a role for BMP signaling in aggravating MMP2 and MMP9, factors that result in chronic non-healing wounds. Wounds are now increasingly recognized as being colonized with fungi along with bacteria. We propose a role for C. albicans orchestrated BMP signaling in contributing to enriched repressive methylation at Egf, Pdgf and Tissue Inhibitors of Matrix Metalloproteases (Timp2/3/4) promoters. Repressive H3K27me3 at these loci impedes the reparative tissue homeostasis, resulting in C. albicans endorsed impaired wound healing. Altogether, we uncovered hitherto unknown roles of BMP signaling during mycobacterial and fungal infections, enabling a better understanding of lesser studied pathways in mediating pathogenesis.

Hypothèse : Le nanobroyage d'une suspension de nystatine augmentera son efficacité antifongique in vitro et in vivo. Méthode : Une nanosupension de nystatine a été obtenue en utilisant le broyage humide. Elle a été caractérisée pour sa distribution de taille des particules et pour sa teneur en principe actif. L'activité in vitro a été évaluée contre les souches de C. albicans SC5314 et LAM-1 aux concentrations 12.5 μg/mL jusqu'à 5000 μg/mL. L'efficacité in vivo a été évaluée en utilisant un modèle murin de candidose oropharyngée. Résultats : La taille médiane des particules de la nanosuspension de nystatine a été réduite de 6577 nm à 137 nm. L'analyse CLHP a demontré une teneur de 98.7 ± 0.8%. L'activité in vitro de la nanosuspension était supérieure à la suspension aux concentrations 100 μg/mL à 5000 μg/mL. La charge fongique orale était inférieure dans le groupe traité par la nanosuspension comparativement aux autres groupes. La survie des souris était aussi supérieure. / Hypothesis : Nanomilling of a nystatin suspension will increase its antifungal efficacy in vitro and in vivo. Methods: A nystatin nanosuspension was obtained using wet bead milling. It was characterized for its particle size distribution and for its drug content. In vitro activity was evaluted against C. albicans strains SC5314 and LAM-1 at concentrations of 12.5 μg/mL up to 5000 μg/mL. The in vivo efficacy was evaluated using a murine model of oropharyngeal candidiasis. Results: Median particle size of the nystatin nanosuspension was reduced from 6577 nm to 137 nm. HPLC analysis demonstrated a content assay of 98.7 ± 0.8%. In vitro activity of the nanosuspension was superior to the suspension’s at concentrations ranging from 100 μg/mL to 5000 μg/mL. Oral fungal burdens were inferor in the nanosuspension group compared to the suspension and saline groups. Mice survival was also superior in the nanosuspension group.

Hypothèse : Le nanobroyage d'une suspension de nystatine augmentera son efficacité antifongique in vitro et in vivo. Méthode : Une nanosupension de nystatine a été obtenue en utilisant le broyage humide. Elle a été caractérisée pour sa distribution de taille des particules et pour sa teneur en principe actif. L'activité in vitro a été évaluée contre les souches de C. albicans SC5314 et LAM-1 aux concentrations 12.5 μg/mL jusqu'à 5000 μg/mL. L'efficacité in vivo a été évaluée en utilisant un modèle murin de candidose oropharyngée. Résultats : La taille médiane des particules de la nanosuspension de nystatine a été réduite de 6577 nm à 137 nm. L'analyse CLHP a demontré une teneur de 98.7 ± 0.8%. L'activité in vitro de la nanosuspension était supérieure à la suspension aux concentrations 100 μg/mL à 5000 μg/mL. La charge fongique orale était inférieure dans le groupe traité par la nanosuspension comparativement aux autres groupes. La survie des souris était aussi supérieure. / Hypothesis : Nanomilling of a nystatin suspension will increase its antifungal efficacy in vitro and in vivo. Methods: A nystatin nanosuspension was obtained using wet bead milling. It was characterized for its particle size distribution and for its drug content. In vitro activity was evaluted against C. albicans strains SC5314 and LAM-1 at concentrations of 12.5 μg/mL up to 5000 μg/mL. The in vivo efficacy was evaluated using a murine model of oropharyngeal candidiasis. Results: Median particle size of the nystatin nanosuspension was reduced from 6577 nm to 137 nm. HPLC analysis demonstrated a content assay of 98.7 ± 0.8%. In vitro activity of the nanosuspension was superior to the suspension’s at concentrations ranging from 100 μg/mL to 5000 μg/mL. Oral fungal burdens were inferor in the nanosuspension group compared to the suspension and saline groups. Mice survival was also superior in the nanosuspension group.

As a human fungal pathogen, Candida albicans can cause a wide variety of disease conditions ranging from superficial to systemic infections. Many of these infections are caused by an inherent ability of the pathogen to form biofilms on medical devices resulting in high mortality. Biofilms formed by C. albicans are a complex consortium of yeast and hyphal cells embedded in an extracellular matrix and are regulated by a network of transcription factors. Here, I report the role of a novel Zn(II)2-Cys6 binuclear cluster transcription factor, ZCF32, in the regulation of biofilm formation. Global transcriptome analysis reveals that biofilm development is the most altered pathway in the zcf32 null mutant. To delineate the functional correlation between ZCF32 and biofilm development, the set of genes directly regulated by Zcf32 were determined. The data suggest that Zcf32 regulates biofilm formation by repressing the expression of adhesins, chitinases and a significant number of other GPI-anchored proteins. The data presented here establish that there is the lesser recruitment of Zcf32 on the promoters of biofilm genes in biofilm condition compared to the planktonic mode of growth. Thus, the transcription factor ZCF32 negatively regulates biofilm development in C. albicans. Candida albicans, carries an expanded family of Zn(II)2Cys6 transcription factors. A CTG clade-specific protein Zcf32 and its closely related protein Upc2, a well-conserved protein across the various fungal species, belong to this family of proteins. Unlike Upc2, Zcf32 is poorly studied in C. albicans. Here, I examined roles played by these two related transcription factors in biofilm development and virulence of C. albicans. The data show that the null mutants of each of ZCF32 or UPC2 form better biofilms than the wild-type suggesting that both of them negatively regulate the biofilm development. While acting as negative regulators of biofilm formation, these two transcription factors target a different set of biofilm genes. A mouse model of candidiasis reveals that zcf32/zcf32 was hypervirulent while upc2/upc2 shows compromised virulence compared to the wild-type. Notably, the absence of Zcf32 enhances detrimental inflammation brought about by TNFα, IFNβ, and IFNγ. upc2/upc2 failed to generate a similar feedback, instead demonstrated an elevated anti-inflammatory (IL4 and IL10) host response. Taking together, the data exhibit how a recently evolved transcription factor Zcf32 retained functional resemblance with a more ubiquitous member Upc2 but also functionally diverged from the latter in the regulation of virulence of the pathogen.