Taxonomic group: fungi / Basidiomycota
(Phylum: Basidiomycota)
Organ / tissue: cell wallAssociated disease: infection due to Cryptococcus neoformans [ICD11:
XN3EH 
]
NCBI PubMed ID: 37790378Publication DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.3c00911Journal NLM ID: 100892849Publisher: Washington, DC: American Chemical Society
Correspondence: R.J.B. Corder <rcorder4
jhu.edu>; S.C.M. Teixeira <susanat
udel.edu>
Institutions: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States, NIST Center of Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716, United States
Cryptococcus neoformans is a fungal pathogen that can cause life-threatening brain infections in immunocompromised individuals. Unlike other fungal pathogens, it possesses a protective polysaccharide capsule that is crucial for its virulence. During infections, Cryptococcus cells release copious amounts of extracellular polysaccharides (exo-PS) that interfere with host immune responses. Both exo-PS and capsular-PS play pivotal roles in Cryptococcus infections and serve as essential targets for disease diagnosis and vaccine development strategies. However, understanding their structure is complicated by their polydispersity, complexity, sensitivity to sample isolation and processing, and scarcity of methods capable of isolating and analyzing them while preserving their native structure. In this study, we employ small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and ultra-small-angle neutron scattering (USANS) for the first time to investigate both fungal cell suspensions and extracellular polysaccharides in solution. Our data suggests that exo-PS in solution exhibits collapsed chain-like behavior and demonstrates mass fractal properties that indicate a relatively condensed pore structure in aqueous environments. This observation is also supported by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The local structure of the polysaccharide is characterized as a rigid rod, with a length scale corresponding to 3-4 repeating units. This research not only unveils insights into exo-PS and capsular-PS structures but also demonstrates the potential of USANS for studying changes in cell dimensions and the promise of contrast variation in future neutron scattering studies.
structural, polysaccharide, Cryptococcus neoformans
Structure type: structural motif or average structure
Location inside paper: Fig. 1, Motif M6
Trivial name: glucuronoxylomannan (GXM), glucuronoxylomannan (GXM) Motif M6
Compound class: CPS, cell wall polysaccharide
Contained glycoepitopes: IEDB_115136,IEDB_115576,IEDB_130701,IEDB_140116,IEDB_140630,IEDB_144983,IEDB_152206,IEDB_164174,IEDB_423153,IEDB_76933,IEDB_983930,SB_197,SB_44,SB_67,SB_72
Methods: SEM, light microscopy, SANS, neutron scattering analysis, USANS
Comments, role: (preprint DOI:10.1101/2023.09.22.559017)
Related record ID(s): 41098, 41510, 41511, 41512, 41513
NCBI Taxonomy refs (TaxIDs): 235443Reference(s) to other database(s): GTC:G44037XE
Show glycosyltransferases
There is only one chemically distinct structure:
Found 
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(later renamed to: Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii H99)