This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental material
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Cheng, G.
Right arrow Articles by Hoyer, L. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Cheng, G.
Right arrow Articles by Hoyer, L. L.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Eukaryotic Cell, January 2006, p. 180-191, Vol. 5, No. 1
1535-9778/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.5.1.180-191.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Cellular and Molecular Biology of Candida albicans Estrogen Response{dagger}

Georgina Cheng, Kathleen M. Yeater, and Lois L. Hoyer*

Department of Pathobiology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61802

Received 1 September 2005/ Accepted 7 November 2005

Candida albicans is the most common etiological agent of vaginal candidiasis. Elevated host estrogen levels and the incidence of vaginal candidiasis are positively associated. Elevated estrogen levels may affect host and/or fungal cells. This study investigates the effect of 17-ß-estradiol, 17-{alpha}-estradiol, ethynyl estradiol, and estriol on several C. albicans strains at concentrations ranging from 10–5 to 10–10 M. The addition of 17-ß-estradiol or ethynyl estradiol to C. albicans cells caused an increase in the number of cells forming germ tubes and an increase in germ tube length in a dose- and strain-dependent manner. The addition of 17-{alpha}-estradiol or estriol did not have a significant effect on germ tube formation by the cultured cells. Exposure to exogenous estrogens did not significantly change the biomass of any C. albicans culture tested. The transcriptional profile of estrogen-treated C. albicans cells showed increased expression of CDR1 and CDR2 across several strain-estrogen concentration-time point combinations, suggesting that these genes are the most responsive to estrogen exposure. Analysis of strain DSY654, which lacks the CDR1 and CDR2 coding sequences, showed a significantly decreased number of germ tube-forming cells in the presence of 17-ß-estradiol. PDR16 was the most highly up-regulated gene in strain DSY654 under these growth conditions. The cell biology and gene expression data from this study led to a model that proposes how components of the phospholipid and sterol metabolic pathways may interact to affect C. albicans germ tube formation and length.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pathobiology, 2522 VMBSB, 2001 S. Lincoln Avenue, Urbana, IL 61802. Phone: (217) 333-5043. Fax: (217) 244-7421. E-mail: lhoyer{at}uiuc.edu.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://ec.asm.org/.

Eukaryotic Cell, January 2006, p. 180-191, Vol. 5, No. 1
1535-9778/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.5.1.180-191.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Chaffin, W. L. (2008). Candida albicans Cell Wall Proteins. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 72: 495-544 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Banerjee, D., Lelandais, G., Shukla, S., Mukhopadhyay, G., Jacq, C., Devaux, F., Prasad, R. (2008). Responses of Pathogenic and Nonpathogenic Yeast Species to Steroids Reveal the Functioning and Evolution of Multidrug Resistance Transcriptional Networks. Eukaryot Cell 7: 68-77 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»