Evidence map›Paper›PMID 19686640›Full record

ArticleBiophysical journal2009

The elastic properties of the Cryptococcus neoformans capsule.

Susana Frases, Bruno Pontes, Leonardo Nimrichter, Marcio L Rodrigues, Nathan B Viana, Arturo Casadevall

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Biophysical journal, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 44 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Calcium triggersbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  2. The Role of Nutritional Environment inInfectious disease reports · 2025
    Article
  3. Frontiers in immunology · 2025
    Article
  4. Neutron Scattering Analysis ofBiomacromolecules · 2024
    Article
  5. Neutron Scattering Analysis ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Ultrastructural Study ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2021
    Article
  10. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020
    Article
  11. Mediators of inflammation · 2020
    Article
  12. The capsule ofVirulence · 2019
    Review
  13. The mechanical properties of microbial surfaces and biofilms.Cell surface (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2019
    Article
  14. Genotypic and Phenotypic Diversity ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2018
    Article
  15. Article
  16. Influenza A Virus as a Predisposing Factor for Cryptococcosis.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2017
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Susana FrasesDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, The Bronx, New York, USA. scarvaja@aecom.yu.edu
Bruno Pontes
Leonardo Nimrichter
Marcio L Rodrigues
Nathan B Viana
Arturo Casadevall
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro · BRAlbert Einstein College of Medicine · US

Funding

Synergy of Host Defense Mechanisms in the LungR01HL059842 · NHLBI · YESHIVA UNIVERSITY · PI CASADEVALL, ARTURO · 1997 to 2023
$7.4M
PROTECTIVE ANTIBODIES FOR CRYPTOCOCCAL INFECTIONSR01AI033774 · NIAID · YESHIVA UNIVERSITY · PI CASADEVALL, ARTURO · 1994 to 2014
$5.6M
Molecular Characterization of C. neoformans AntibodiesR37AI033142 · NIAID · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI CASADEVALL, ARTURO · 2007 to 2016
$3.9M
NHLBI NIH HHS 5R01HL059842NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL059842NIAID NIH HHS 2R37AI033142NIAID NIH HHS AI033774NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI033774NIAID NIH HHS R37 AI033142
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Microbial capsules are important for virulence, but their architecture and physical properties are poorly understood. The human pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans has a large polysaccharide capsule that is necessary for virulence and is the target of protective antibody responses. To study the C. neoformans capsule we developed what we believe is a new approach whereby we probed the capsular elastic properties by applying forces using polystyrene beads manipulated with optical tweezers. This method allowed us to determine the Young's modulus for the capsule in various conditions that affect capsule growth. The results indicate that the Young's modulus of the capsule decreases with its size and increases with the Ca(2+) concentration in solution. Also, capsular polysaccharide manifests an unexpected affinity for polystyrene beads, a property that may function in attachment to host cells and environmental structures. Bead probing with optical tweezers provides a new, nondestructive method that may have wide applicability for studying the effects of growth conditions, immune components, and drugs on capsular properties.

Indexed as

Cryptococcus neoformansElastic ModulusOptical TweezersPolysaccharidesStress, MechanicalPolysaccharides

Identifiers

PMID19686640
PMCPMC2726329
OpenAlexW2012499624

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.