Adaptation of Candida albicans to specific host environments by gain-of-function mutations in transcription factors.

Autor: Morschhäuser J; Institute of Molecular Infection Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PLoS pathogens [PLoS Pathog] 2024 Nov 04; Vol. 20 (11), pp. e1012643. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Nov 04 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012643
Abstrakt: The yeast Candida albicans is usually a harmless member of the normal microbiota in healthy persons but is also a major fungal pathogen that can colonize and infect almost every human tissue. A successful adaptation to environmental changes encountered in different host niches requires an appropriate regulation of gene expression. The zinc cluster transcription factors are the largest family of transcriptional regulators in C. albicans and are involved in the control of virtually all aspects of its biology. Under certain circumstances, mutations in these transcription factors that alter their activity and the expression of their target genes confer a selective advantage, which results in the emergence of phenotypically altered variants that are better adapted to new environmental challenges. This review describes how gain-of-function mutations in different zinc cluster transcription factors enable C. albicans to overcome antifungal therapy and to successfully establish itself in specific host niches.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
(Copyright: © 2024 Joachim Morschhäuser. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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