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Taxonomic group: fungi / Basidiomycota (Phylum: Basidiomycota)
Organ / tissue: capsule
Associated disease: infection due to Cryptococcus neoformans [ICD11: XN3EH

]; infection due to Cryptococcus gattii [ICD11: XN0LE

]

NCBI PubMed ID: 32350094
Publication DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.00310-20
Journal NLM ID: 101674533
Publisher: Washington, DC: American Society for Microbiology
Correspondence: acasade1

jhu.edu
Institutions: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA, Centre for Synthesis and Chemical Biology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Ireland

Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii are pathogenic fungi that cause significant morbidity and mortality. Cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH) is a biophysical parameter that influences the adhesion of fungal cells or spores to biotic and abiotic surfaces. C. neoformans is encased by polysaccharide capsule that is highly hydrophilic and is a critical determinant of virulence. In this study, we report large differences in the CSH of some C. neoformans and C. gattii strains. The capsular polysaccharides of C. neoformans strains differ in repeating motifs and therefore vary in the number of hydroxyl groups, which, along with higher-order structure of the capsule, may contribute to the variation in hydrophobicity that we observed. We found that cell wall composition, in the context of chitin-chitosan content, does not influence CSH. For C. neoformans, CSH correlated with phagocytosis by natural soil predator Acanthamoeba castellanii Furthermore, capsular binding of the protective antibody (18B7), but not the nonprotective antibody (13F1), altered the CSH of C. neoformans strains. Variability in CSH could be an important characteristic in comparing the biological properties of cryptococcal strains. The interaction of a microbial cell with its environment is influenced by the biophysical properties of a cell. The affinity of the cell surface for water, defined by the cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH), is a biophysical parameter that varies among different strains of Cryptococcus neoformans The CSH influences the phagocytosis of the yeast by its natural predator in the soil, the amoeba. Studying variation in biophysical properties like CSH gives us insight into the dynamic host-predator interaction and host-pathogen interaction in a damage-response framework.

polysaccharide capsule, Cryptococcus neoformans, Cryptococcus gattii, Acanthamoeba castellanii, capsular antibody, cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH)

Structure type: suggested polymer biological repeating unit
Location inside paper: Fig. 3, C, serotype C
Trivial name: glucuronoxylomannan (GXM)
Compound class: CPS, EPS, O-polysaccharide, O-antigen, cell wall polysaccharide, polysaccharide, glucuronoxylomannan, capsule polysaccharide
Contained glycoepitopes: IEDB_114701,IEDB_115136,IEDB_115576,IEDB_130701,IEDB_140116,IEDB_140630,IEDB_144983,IEDB_145668,IEDB_152206,IEDB_164174,IEDB_167188,IEDB_174332,IEDB_2270799,IEDB_423153,IEDB_76933,IEDB_983930,SB_197,SB_44,SB_67,SB_72

Methods: biological assays, cell growth, phagocytosis assay

Related record ID(s): 50890, 50891, 50892
NCBI Taxonomy refs (TaxIDs): 37769
Reference(s) to other database(s): GTC:G39597XD
Show glycosyltransferases

There is only one chemically distinct structure:

*O[C@H]1[C@H](O[C@@H]2OC[C@@H](O)[C@H](O)[C@H]2O)[C@@H](CO)O[C@H](O[C@@H]2[C@H](O[C@@H]3OC[C@@H](O)[C@H](O)[C@H]3O)[C@@H](O[C@@H]3[C@H](O[C@@H]4OC[C@@H](O)[C@H](O)[C@H]4O)[C@@H](*)O[C@H](CO)[C@H]3O[C@@H]3OC[C@@H](O)[C@H](O)[C@H]3O)O[C@H](CO)[C@H]2O)[C@H]1O[C@@H]1O[C@H](C(=O)O)[C@@H](O)[C@H](O)[C@H]1O

SVG MW SMILES 3D mol Ionize