A novel small molecule methyltransferase is important for virulence in Candida albicans

ACS Chem Biol. 2013 Dec 20;8(12):2785-93. doi: 10.1021/cb400607h. Epub 2013 Oct 16.

Abstract

Candida albicans is an opportunistic pathogen capable of causing life-threatening infections in immunocompromised individuals. Despite its significant health impact, our understanding of C. albicans pathogenicity is limited, particularly at the molecular level. One of the largely understudied enzyme families in C. albicans are small molecule AdoMet-dependent methyltransferases (smMTases), which are important for maintenance of cellular homeostasis by clearing toxic chemicals, generating novel cellular intermediates, and regulating intra- and interspecies interactions. In this study, we demonstrated that C. albicans Crg1 (CaCrg1) is a bona fide smMTase that interacts with the toxin in vitro and in vivo. We report that CaCrg1 is important for virulence-related processes such as adhesion, hyphal elongation, and membrane trafficking. Biochemical and genetic analyses showed that CaCrg1 plays a role in the complex sphingolipid pathway: it binds to exogenous short-chain ceramides in vitro and interacts genetically with genes of glucosylceramide pathway, and the deletion of CaCRG1 leads to significant changes in the abundance of phytoceramides. Finally we found that this novel lipid-related smMTase is required for virulence in the waxmoth Galleria mellonella, a model of infection.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Candida albicans / drug effects
  • Candida albicans / enzymology*
  • Candida albicans / genetics
  • Candida albicans / pathogenicity*
  • Cantharidin / pharmacology
  • Cell Membrane / chemistry
  • Cell Membrane / metabolism
  • Ceramides / biosynthesis*
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Gene Deletion
  • Methyltransferases / genetics
  • Methyltransferases / metabolism*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Moths / microbiology
  • Recombinant Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / enzymology
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / genetics
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / genetics
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / metabolism*
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Virulence

Substances

  • Ceramides
  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
  • Crg1 protein, S cerevisiae
  • Methyltransferases
  • Cantharidin