Antifungal Activity of Mammalian Serum Amyloid A1 against Candida albicans

Jiao Gong; Jun Wu; Melanie Ikeh; Li Tao; Yulong Zhang; Jian Bing; Clarissa J Nobile; Guanghua Huang

doi:10.1128/AAC.01975-19

Antifungal Activity of Mammalian Serum Amyloid A1 against Candida albicans

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2019 Dec 20;64(1):e01975-19. doi: 10.1128/AAC.01975-19. Print 2019 Dec 20.

Authors

Jiao Gong^{1

2}, Jun Wu³, Melanie Ikeh⁴, Li Tao⁵, Yulong Zhang^{1

2}, Jian Bing¹, Clarissa J Nobile⁴, Guanghua Huang⁶

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
² University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
³ NHC Key Lab of Reproduction Regulation, Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research, Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, School of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, California, USA.
⁵ Department of Infectious Diseases, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University and State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
⁶ Department of Infectious Diseases, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University and State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China huanggh@im.ac.cn.

Abstract

Mammalian serum amyloid A (SAA) is a major acute phase protein that shows a massive increase in plasma concentration during inflammation. In the present study, we demonstrate that the expression of mouse SAA1 in serum was increased when infected with Candida albicans, a major human fungal pathogen, in a systemic infection model. We then set out to investigate the antifungal activity of SAA proteins against C. albicans Recombinant human and mouse SAA1 (rhSAA1 and rmSAA1) were expressed and purified in Escherichia coli Both rhSAA1 and rmSAA1 exhibited a potent antifungal activity against C. albicans We further demonstrate that rhSAA1 binds to the cell surface of C. albicans, disrupts cell membrane integrity, and induces rapid fungal cell death in C. albicans Our finding expands the known functions of SAA1 and provides new insight into host-Candida interactions during fungal infection.

Keywords: Candida albicans; SAA1; antifungal activity; serum amyloid A.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Antifungal Agents / pharmacology*
Candida albicans / drug effects*
Candida albicans / metabolism*
Fungal Proteins / metabolism
Serum Amyloid A Protein / metabolism

Substances

Antifungal Agents
Fungal Proteins
Serum Amyloid A Protein

Grants and funding

R35 GM124594/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States