Comparison of the Hydrophobic Properties of Candida albicans and Candida dubliniensis

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although Candida dubliniensis is a close genetic relative of Candida albicans , it colonizes and infects fewer sites. Nearly all instances of candidiasis caused by C. dubliniensis are restricted to the oral cavity. As cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH) influences virulence of C. albicans , CSH properties of C. dubliniensis were investigated and compared to C. albicans . Growth temperature is one factor which affects the CSH status of stationary-phase C. albicans . However, C. dubliniensis , similar to other pathogenic non-albicans species of Candida , was hydrophobic regardless of growth temperature. For all Candida species tested in this study ( C. albicans, C. dubliniensis, C. glabrata, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis , and C. tropicalis ), CSH status correlated with coaggregation with the anaerobic oral bacterium Fusobacterium nucleatum . Previous studies have shown that CSH status of C. albicans involves multiple surface proteins and surface protein N-glycans. The hydrophobic surface glycoprotein CAgp38 appears to be expressed by C. albicans constitutively regardless of growth temperature and medium. C. dubliniensis expresses a 38-kDa protein that cross-reacts with the anti-CAgp38 monoclonal antibody; however, expression of the protein was growth medium and growth temperature dependent. The anti-CAgp38 monoclonal antibody has been shown to inhibit adhesion of C. albicans to extracellular matrix proteins and to vascular endothelial cells. Since protein glycosylation influences the CSH status of C. albicans , we compared the cell wall mannoprotein content and composition between C. albicans and C. dubliniensis . Similar bulk compositional levels of hexose, phosphate, and protein in their N-glycans were determined. However, a component of the C. albicans N-glycan, acid-labile phosphooligomannoside, is expressed much less or negligibly by C. dubliniensis , and when present, the oligomannosides are predominantly less than five mannose residues in length. In addition, the acid-labile phosphooligomannoside profiles varied among the three strains of C. dubliniensis we tested, indicating the N-glycan of C. dubliniensis differs from C. albicans . For C. albicans , the acid-labile phosphooligomannoside influences virulence and surface fibrillar conformation, which affects exposure of hydrophobic surface proteins. Given the combined role in C. albicans of expression of specific surface hydrophobic proteins in pathogenesis and of surface protein glycosylation on exposure of the proteins, the lack of these virulence-associated CSH entities in C. dubliniensis could contribute to its limited ability to cause disseminated infections.