Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41387683›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Sterol-C4-methyl-oxidase Erg251 governs Candida albicans hypoxic growth, commensalism and virulence.

Zhongle Liu, Bonnie Yiu, Pauline Basso, Xuefei Chen, Disha Patel, Taylor Davie, Saif Hossain, Ci Fu, Linda S Archambault, Dustin Duncan and 4 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

14 authors.

Zhongle Liu *Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Bonnie Yiu *Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Pauline BassoDepartment of Microbiology & Immunology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Xuefei ChenDavid Braley Centre for Antibiotics Discovery, M.G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0006-6304-5777
Disha PatelDepartment of Chemistry, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0005-5132-6451
Taylor DavieDepartment of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Saif HossainDepartment of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Ci FuDepartment of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Linda S ArchambaultDepartment of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Dustin DuncanDepartment of Chemistry, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1240-8495
Gerard D WrightDavid Braley Centre for Antibiotics Discovery, M.G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9129-7131
Suzanne M NobleDepartment of Microbiology & Immunology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Nicole RobbinsDepartment of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2821-9269
Leah E CowenDepartment of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. leah.cowen@utoronto.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5797-0110

Funding

Systematic Analysis of Morphogenesis, Commensalism, and Virulence in a Leading Human Fungal PathogenR01AI127375 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO · PI LEAH Elizabeth Cowen · 2017 to 2026
$5.3M
Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, Inc.) 1R01AI127375NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI127375
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Intestinal-colonizing Candida albicans is a primary source of systemic infection where it translocates across intestinal barriers into the bloodstream leading to disseminated candidiasis. To persist in the gastrointestinal tract, C. albicans must adapt to complex environments, including extreme hypoxic conditions (EHC). Here, we performed a functional genomic screen to identify genes important for C. albicans fitness under EHC. We discovered that one of the two C. albicans sterol C4-methyl oxidases, Erg251, is specifically required for producing ergosterol, an essential component for fungal membrane, in low oxygen conditions. Deleting Erg251 or mutating key amino acid residues for its function under EHC impaired C. albicans virulence and colonization in mouse models of systemic infection and commensalism, respectively. Selective inhibitors of fungal sterol C4-methyl oxidases, inhibit C. albicans growth in vitro and in a nematode infection model, showing therapeutic potential.

Indexed as

Candida albicansFungal ProteinsOxidoreductasesAnimalsCaenorhabditis elegansCandidiasisDisease Models, AnimalErgosterolFemaleGene Expression Regulation, FungalMiceSymbiosisVirulenceErgosterolFungal ProteinsOxidoreductases

Identifiers

PMID41387683
PMCPMC12748948

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.