ArticleInfection and immunity2011
Chronological aging is associated with biophysical and chemical changes in the capsule of Cryptococcus neoformans.
Article in Infection and immunity, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Gene, virulence and related regulatory mechanisms inActa biochimica et biophysica Sinica · 2022Review
- Influence of Pathogen Carbon Metabolism on Interactions With Host Immunity.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Review
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- Variation in Cell Surface Hydrophobicity among Cryptococcus neoformans Strains Influences Interactions with Amoebas.mSphere · 2020Article
- The capsule ofVirulence · 2019Review
- The mechanical properties of microbial surfaces and biofilms.Cell surface (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2019Article
- The Buoyancy ofmSphere · 2018Article
- Unraveling synthesis of the cryptococcal cell wall and capsule.Glycobiology · 2018Review
- Cryptococcal Traits Mediating Adherence to Biotic and Abiotic Surfaces.Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2018Review
- Titan cells formation in Cryptococcus neoformans is finely tuned by environmental conditions and modulated by positive and negative genetic regulators.PLoS pathogens · 2018Article
- A Predicted Mannoprotein Participates inmSphere · 2018Article
- Geometrical Distribution ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2017Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Does the age of a microbial cell affect its virulence factors? To our knowledge, this question has not been addressed previously, but the answer is of great relevance for chronic infections where microbial cells persist and age in hosts. Cryptococcus neoformans is an encapsulated human-pathogenic fungus notorious for causing chronic infections where cells of variable age persist in tissue. The major virulence factor for C. neoformans is a polysaccharide (PS) capsule. To understand how chronological age could impact the cryptococcal capsule properties, we compared the elastic properties, permeabilities, zeta potentials, and glycosidic compositions of capsules from young and old cells and found significant differences in all parameters measured. Changes in capsular properties were paralleled by changes in PS molecular mass and density, as well as modified antigenic density and antiphagocytic properties. Remarkably, chronological aging under stationary-phase growth conditions was associated with the expression of α-1,3-glucans in the capsule, indicating a new structural capsular component. Our results establish that cryptococcal capsules are highly dynamic structures that change dramatically with chronological aging under prolonged stationary-phase growth conditions. Changes associated with cellular aging in chronic infections could contribute to the remarkable capacity of this fungus to persist in tissues by generating phenotypically and antigenically different capsules.
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