Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (21)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Pinto, M. R.
Right arrow Articles by Barreto-Bergter, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Pinto, M. R.
Right arrow Articles by Barreto-Bergter, E.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Glycobiology, 2002, Vol. 12, No. 4 251-260
© 2002 Oxford University Press

Characterization of glucosylceramides in Pseudallescheria boydii and their involvement in fungal differentiation

Marcia R. Pinto3, Marcio L. Rodrigues4,5, Luiz R. Travassos4, Rosa M. T. Haido6, Robin Wait1,7 and Eliana Barreto-Bergter2,3

3Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro–UFRJ, CCS-Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Brazil; 4Disciplina de Biologia Celular, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; 5Disciplina de Microbiologia Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Estácio de Sá, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; 6Instituto Biomédico, Universidade do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and 7Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research, Salisbury, SP4 0JG, UK

Pseudallescheria boydii is a fungal pathogen that causes disease in immunocompromised patients. Ceramide monohexosides (CMHs) were purified from lipidic extracts of this fungus, showing that, as described for several other species, P. boydii synthesizes glucosylceramides as major neutral glycosphingolipids. CMHs from P. boydii were analyzed by high-performance thin-layer chromatography, gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, fast atom bombardment–mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance. These combination of techniques allowed the identification of CMHs from P. boydii as molecules containing a glucose residue attached to 9-methyl-4,8-sphingadienine in amidic linkage to 2-hydroxyoctadecanoic or 2-hydroxyhexadecanoic acids. Antibodies from a rabbit infected with P. boydii recognized CMHs from this fungus. Antibodies to CMH were purified from serum and used in indirect immunofluorescence, which revealed that CMHs are detectable on the surface of mycelial and pseudohyphal but not conidial forms of P. boydii, suggesting a differential expression of glucosylceramides according with morphological phase. We also investigated the influence of antibodies to CMH on growth and germ tube formation in P. boydii. Cultures that were supplemented with these antibodies failed to form mycelium, but the latter was not affected once formed. Similar experiments were performed to evaluate whether antibodies to CMH would influence germ tube formation in Candida albicans, a fungal pathogen that synthesizes glucosylceramide and uses differentiation as a virulence factor. Addition of antiglucosylceramide antibodies to cultures of C. albicans clearly inhibited the generation of germ tubes. These results indicated that fungal CMHs might be involved in the differentiation and, consequently, play a role on the infectivity of fungal cells.

1 Present address: Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, W8 8LH, London, UK

2 To whom correspondence should be addressed


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 CVIHome page
M. L. Rodrigues, L. Shi, E. Barreto-Bergter, L. Nimrichter, S. E. Farias, E. G. Rodrigues, L. R. Travassos, and J. D. Nosanchuk
Monoclonal Antibody to Fungal Glucosylceramide Protects Mice against Lethal Cryptococcus neoformans Infection
Clin. Vaccine Immunol., October 1, 2007; 14(10): 1372 - 1376.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Eukaryot CellHome page
R. Rhome, T. McQuiston, T. Kechichian, A. Bielawska, M. Hennig, M. Drago, G. Morace, C. Luberto, and M. Del Poeta
Biosynthesis and Immunogenicity of Glucosylceramide in Cryptococcus neoformans and Other Human Pathogens
Eukaryot. Cell, October 1, 2007; 6(10): 1715 - 1726.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Biol. Chem.Home page
P. Ternes, P. Sperling, S. Albrecht, S. Franke, J. M. Cregg, D. Warnecke, and E. Heinz
Identification of Fungal Sphingolipid C9-methyltransferases by Phylogenetic Profiling
J. Biol. Chem., March 3, 2006; 281(9): 5582 - 5592.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Infect. Immun.Home page
L. Nimrichter, M. D. Cerqueira, E. A. Leitao, K. Miranda, E. S. Nakayasu, S. R. Almeida, I. C. Almeida, C. S. Alviano, E. Barreto-Bergter, and M. L. Rodrigues
Structure, Cellular Distribution, Antigenicity, and Biological Functions of Fonsecaea pedrosoi Ceramide Monohexosides
Infect. Immun., December 1, 2005; 73(12): 7860 - 7868.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Biol. Chem.Home page
K. Thevissen, D. C. Warnecke, I. E. J. A. Francois, M. Leipelt, E. Heinz, C. Ott, U. Zahringer, B. P. H. J. Thomma, K. K. A. Ferket, and B. P. A. Cammue
Defensins from Insects and Plants Interact with Fungal Glucosylceramides
J. Biol. Chem., February 6, 2004; 279(6): 3900 - 3905.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.