ArticlePLoS pathogens2011
Phospholipids trigger Cryptococcus neoformans capsular enlargement during interactions with amoebae and macrophages.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 79 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
79 citing papers in PubMed, 133 citations in OpenAlex.
- Thermotolerant insect-associated selective pressure may drive increased lipid metabolic plasticity and emerging pathogenic potential in yeasts.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Pathogenicity and virulence of Cryptococcus neoformans from an environmental perspective.Virulence · 2025Review
- Reduced growth and biofilm formation at high temperatures contribute to Cryptococcus deneoformans dermatotropism.Disease models & mechanisms · 2025Article
- Insight into the Mechanisms and Clinical Relevance of Antifungal Heteroresistance.Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Host-membrane lipid composition controlsFrontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Article
- Role of the Anaphase-Promoting Complex Activator Cdh1 in the Virulence ofJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of pulmonary and extrapulmonary cryptococcosis.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Review
- Loss of Opi3 causes a lipid imbalance that influences the virulence traits ofFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Article
- Adaptation to an amoeba host drives selection of virulence-associated traits and genetic variation in saprotrophicFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Article
- In Vitro Titan Cell Generation in Cryptococcus neoformans and Automated Cell Size Measurements.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2024Article
- Phosphate availability conditions caspofungin tolerance, capsule attachment and titan cell formation inFrontiers in fungal biology · 2024Article
- Distinct pathways of adaptive evolution in Cryptococcus neoformans reveal a mutation in adenylyl cyclase with trade-offs for pathogenicity.Current biology : CB · 2023Article
- Innate Pulmonary Phagocytes and Their Interactions with PathogenicJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Phospholipase B Is Critical for Cryptococcus neoformans Survival in the Central Nervous System.mBio · 2023Article
- Establishing Minimal Conditions Sufficient for the Development of Titan-like Cells inPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- A Possible Link between the Environment andInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Macrophage Mediated Immunomodulation DuringFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Review
- Metagenomic next-generation sequencing assists in the diagnosis ofFrontiers in public health · 2022Review
19 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
A remarkable aspect of the interaction of Cryptococcus neoformans with mammalian hosts is a consistent increase in capsule volume. Given that many aspects of the interaction of C. neoformans with macrophages are also observed with amoebae, we hypothesized that the capsule enlargement phenomenon also had a protozoan parallel. Incubation of C. neoformans with Acanthamoeba castellanii resulted in C. neoformans capsular enlargement. The phenomenon required contact between fungal and protozoan cells but did not require amoeba viability. Analysis of amoebae extracts showed that the likely stimuli for capsule enlargement were protozoan polar lipids. Extracts from macrophages and mammalian serum also triggered cryptococcal capsular enlargement. C. neoformans capsule enlargement required expression of fungal phospholipase B, but not phospholipase C. Purified phospholipids, in particular, phosphatidylcholine, and derived molecules triggered capsular enlargement with the subsequent formation of giant cells. These results implicate phospholipids as a trigger for both C. neoformans capsule enlargement in vivo and exopolysaccharide production. The observation that the incubation of C. neoformans with phospholipids led to the formation of giant cells provides the means to generate these enigmatic cells in vitro. Protozoan- or mammalian-derived polar lipids could represent a danger signal for C. neoformans that triggers capsular enlargement as a non-specific defense mechanism against potential predatory cells. Hence, phospholipids are the first host-derived molecules identified to trigger capsular enlargement. The parallels apparent in the capsular response of C. neoformans to both amoebae and macrophages provide additional support for the notion that certain aspects of cryptococcal virulence emerged as a consequence of environmental interactions with other microorganisms such as protists.
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Registered trials
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.