Effect of rapamycin on Cryptococcus neoformans : cellular organization, biophysics and virulence factors.
Iara Bastos de AndradeVinicius AlvesLuiza PereiraBruna MirandaDario Corrêa-JuniorMaria Helena Galdino Figueiredo-CarvalhoMarcos Vinicius SantosRodrigo Almeida-PaesSusana FrasesPublished in: Future microbiology (2023)
Background: Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that causes infections mainly in immunosuppressed individuals, such as transplant recipients. Aims: This study investigated the effects of rapamycin, an immunosuppressant drug, on the cellular organization, biophysical characteristics, and main virulence factors of C. neoformans . Methods: Morphological, structural, physicochemical and biophysical analyses of cells and secreted polysaccharides of the reference H99 C. neoformans strain were investigated under the effect of subinhibitory concentrations of rapamycin. Results: Rapamycin at a minimum inhibitory concentration of 2.5 μM reduced C. neoformans cell viability by 53%, decreased capsule, increased cell size, chitin and lipid body formation, and changed peptidase and urease activity. Conclusion: Further studies are needed to assess how rapamycin affects the virulence factors and pathogenicity of C. neoformans.
Keyphrases
- escherichia coli
- pseudomonas aeruginosa
- biofilm formation
- staphylococcus aureus
- antimicrobial resistance
- induced apoptosis
- single cell
- cell therapy
- emergency department
- cell cycle arrest
- cell death
- fatty acid
- high resolution
- signaling pathway
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- electronic health record
- drug induced
- high speed