ArticlePLoS pathogens2018
Cryptococcus neoformans can form titan-like cells in vitro in response to multiple signals.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 85 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
85 citing papers in PubMed, 125 citations in OpenAlex.
- Esculetin exhibits antifungal effects againstVirulence · 2026Article
- Immune Modulation and Evasion byACS omega · 2026Review
- Subunits of adaptor protein complex-1 make distinct contributions to the virulence ofInfection and immunity · 2026Article
- A role for aquaporin (Aqp1) in the control of Cryptococcus neoformans cell morphology.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2026Article
- Article
- Meiosis-specific genes play roles in ploidy reduction inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Ovoid cell is an inducible small-sized morphotype that enhances proliferation and antifungal drug tolerance in the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Effects of human immunoglobulins onmBio · 2026Article
- Integrative Transcriptomic and Systems Biology Analyses IdentifyMicroorganisms · 2026Article
- Advances in cryptococcal infections-associated immunopathology and potential therapeutic strategies.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- The protein phosphatase 2C domain contributes to the pathobiological function of adenylyl cyclase inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- The Vacuolar Protein 8 (Vac8) Homolog inJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Pathogenicity and virulence of Cryptococcus neoformans from an environmental perspective.Virulence · 2025Review
- Meiosis-specific genes play roles in ploidy reduction inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- The Role of Nutritional Environment inInfectious disease reports · 2025Article
- Effects of human immunoglobulin A onMicrobiology spectrum · 2025Article
- The Hidden Fortress: A Comprehensive Review of Fungal Biofilms with Emphasis onJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The impact of phenotypic heterogeneity on fungal pathogenicity and drug resistance.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2025Review
- Neurobasal medium enhances titan cell formation in Cryptococcus spp.Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz · 2025Article
- Is Cryptococcus neoformans a pleomorphic fungus?Current opinion in microbiology · 2024Review
25 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
9 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cryptococcus neoformans is an encapsulated pathogenic yeast that can change the size of the cells during infection. In particular, this process can occur by enlarging the size of the capsule without modifying the size of the cell body, or by increasing the diameter of the cell body, which is normally accompanied by an increase of the capsule too. This last process leads to the formation of cells of an abnormal enlarged size denominated titan cells. Previous works characterized titan cell formation during pulmonary infection but research on this topic has been hampered due to the difficulty to obtain them in vitro. In this work, we describe in vitro conditions (low nutrient, serum supplemented medium at neutral pH) that promote the transition from regular to titan-like cells. Moreover, addition of azide and static incubation of the cultures in a CO2 enriched atmosphere favored cellular enlargement. This transition occurred at low cell densities, suggesting that the process was regulated by quorum sensing molecules and it was independent of the cryptococcal serotype/species. Transition to titan-like cell was impaired by pharmacological inhibition of PKC signaling pathway. Analysis of the gene expression profile during the transition to titan-like cells showed overexpression of enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism, as well as proteins from the coatomer complex, and related to iron metabolism. Indeed, we observed that iron limitation also induced the formation of titan cells. Our gene expression analysis also revealed other elements involved in titan cell formation, such as calnexin, whose absence resulted in appearance of abnormal large cells even in regular rich media. In summary, our work provides a new alternative method to investigate titan cell formation devoid the bioethical problems that involve animal experimentation.
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.