Autor(es)

Lang, Elza A. S. ^[1] ; Bitencourt, Tamires A. ^[1] ; Peres, Nalu T. A. ^[2] ; Lopes, Lucia ^[1] ; Silva, Larissa G. ^[1] ; Cazzaniga, Rodrigo A. ^[1] ; Rossi, Antonio ^[1] ; Martinez-Rossi, Nilce M. ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Genet, Ribeirao Preto Med Sch, BR-14049900 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Fed Minas Gerais, Dept Microbiol, Inst Biol Sci, Belo Horizonte, MG - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: MICROBIOLOGICAL RESEARCH; v. 241, DEC 2020.
• Citações Web of Science: 0

Resumo

The APSES family, comprising of the transcriptional regulators Asm1p, Phd1p, Sok2p, Efg1p, and StuA, is found exclusively in fungi and has been reported to control several cellular processes in these organisms. However, its function in dermatophytes has not yet been completely understood. Here, we generated two null mutant strains by deleting the stuA gene in the dermatophyte Trichophyton rubrum, the most common clinical isolate obtained from human skin and nail mycoses. The functional characterization of the knocked-out strains revealed the involvement of stuA in germination, morphogenesis of conidia and hyphae, pigmentation, stress responses, and virulence. Although the mutant strains could grow under several nutritional conditions, growth on the keratin medium, human nails, and skin was impaired. The co-culture of stuA mutants with human keratinocytes revealed enhanced development. Moreover, a stuA mutant grown on the keratin substrate showed a marked decrease in the transcript numbers of the hydrophobin encoding gene (hypA), suggesting the involvement of stuA in the molecular mechanisms underlying mechanosensing during the fungi-host interaction. In addition, bioinformatics analyses revealed the potential involvement of StuA in different biological processes such as oxidation-reduction, phosphorylation, proteolysis, transcription/translation regulation, and carbohydrate metabolism. Cumulatively, the present study suggested that StuA is a crosstalk mediator of many pathways and is an integral component of the infection process, implying that it could be a potential target for antifungal therapy. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 15/23435-8 - Mecanismos moleculares envolvidos na resistência e na resposta adaptativa a inibidores fúngicos
• Beneficiário: Tamires Aparecida Bitencourt
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 19/22596-9 - Mecanismos moleculares associados à patogenicidade e resistência em fungos: estratégias para o tratamento de dermatofitoses
• Beneficiário: Nilce Maria Martinez-Rossi
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Temático
• Processo FAPESP: 09/08411-4 - Caracterização funcional de genes do fungo patogênico Trichophyton rubrum durante o processo de interação com células e moléculas do microambiente hospedeiro.
• Beneficiário: Nalu Teixeira de Aguiar Peres
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 11/08424-9 - Genômica funcional e comparativa em fungos. Sub projeto: Genômica funcional de Trichophyton rubrum durante interação com pele e unha humana
• Beneficiário: Elza Akie Sakamoto Lang
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 10/15017-8 - Caracterização funcional do fator de transcrição ACE2 do dermatófito Trichophyton rubrum e a sua implicação na interação patógeno/hospedeiro
• Beneficiário: Larissa Gomes da Silva
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado