ArticlePloS one2011
Protection of melanized Cryptococcus neoformans from lethal dose gamma irradiation involves changes in melanin's chemical structure and paramagnetism.
Article in PloS one, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Insights from Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomics onJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Bioactive Metabolites from Radioresistant Bacterium Kocuria sp. TMM 11 and Their Role in Prevention of Ultraviolet-Induced Photodamages.Current microbiology · 2025Article
- Natural compounds from freshwater mussels disrupt fungal virulence determinants and influence fluconazole susceptibility in the presence of macrophages inMicrobiology spectrum · 2024Article
- Article
- Inhibition of Melanization by Kojic Acid Promotes Cell Wall Disruption of the Human Pathogenic FungusPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Raman Characterization of Fungal DHN and DOPA Melanin Biosynthesis Pathways.Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Fungal Melanins and Applications in Healthcare, Bioremediation and Industry.Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Fungal Pigments and Their Roles Associated with Human Health.Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Review
- Soil Microbes Trade-Off Biogeochemical Cycling for Stress Tolerance Traits in Response to Year-Round Climate Change.Frontiers in microbiology · 2020Article
- Integrity of the DNA and Cellular Ultrastructure of Cryptoendolithic Fungi in Space or Mars Conditions: A 1.5-Year Study at the International Space Station.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2018Article
- Microbial melanins for radioprotection and bioremediation.Microbial biotechnology · 2017Article
- Functions of fungal melanin beyond virulence.Fungal biology reviews · 2017Article
- Melanin, Radiation, and Energy Transduction in Fungi.Microbiology spectrum · 2017Review
- AMycology · 2017Article
- Virulence-Associated Enzymes of Cryptococcus neoformans.Eukaryotic cell · 2015Review
- Through the wall: extracellular vesicles in Gram-positive bacteria, mycobacteria and fungi.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2015Review
- Methods to Inhibit Bacterial Pyomelanin Production and Determine the Corresponding Increase in Sensitivity to Oxidative Stress.Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE · 2015Article
- Putting fungi to work: harvesting a cornucopia of drugs, toxins, and antibiotics.PLoS pathogens · 2014Review
- Cell wall modifications during conidial maturation of the human pathogenic fungus Pseudallescheria boydii.PloS one · 2014Article
- Stress signaling pathways for the pathogenicity of Cryptococcus.Eukaryotic cell · 2013Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Certain fungi thrive in highly radioactive environments including the defunct Chernobyl nuclear reactor. Cryptococcus neoformans (C. neoformans), which uses L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) to produce melanin, was used here to investigate how gamma radiation under aqueous aerobic conditions affects the properties of melanin, with the aim of gaining insight into its radioprotective role. Exposure of melanized fungal cell in aqueous suspensions to doses of γ-radiation capable of killing 50 to 80% of the cells did not lead to a detectable loss of melanin integrity according to EPR spectra of melanin radicals. Moreover, upon UV-visible (Xe-lamp) illumination of melanized cells, the increase in radical population was unchanged after γ-irradiation. Gamma-irradiation of frozen cell suspensions and storage of samples for several days at 77 K however, produced melanin modification noted by a reduced radical population and reduced photoresponse. More direct evidence for structural modification of melanin came from the detection of soluble products with absorbance maxima near 260 nm in supernatants collected after γ-irradiation of cells and cell-free melanin. These products, which include thiobarbituric acid (TBA)-reactive aldehydes, were also generated by Fenton reagent treatment of cells and cell-free melanin. In an assay of melanin integrity based on the metal (Bi(+3)) binding capacity of cells, no detectable loss in binding was detected after γ-irradiation. Our results show that melanin in C. neoformans cells is susceptible to some damage by hydroxyl radical formed in lethal radioactive aqueous environments and serves a protective role in melanized fungi that involves sacrificial breakdown.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.