Streptococcus mutans supernatant affects the virulence of Candida albicans

Candida albicans causes a variety of clinical manifestations through multiple virulence factors that act simultaneously to overcome the immune system and invade the host tissues. Owing to the limited number of antifungal agents available, new candidiasis therapeutic strategies are required. Previous...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Garcia, Maíra Terra [UNESP], dos Santos, Jéssica Diane [UNESP], do Carmo, Paulo Henrique Fonseca [UNESP], Mendes, Gabriela Vieira [UNESP], de Oliveira, Jonatas Rafael, de Oliveira, Luciane Dias [UNESP], Junqueira, Juliana Campos [UNESP]
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UNESP
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unesp.br:11449/301196
Acceso en línea:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42770-023-01198-6
https://hdl.handle.net/11449/301196
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Antifungal metabolites
Candida albicans
Candidiasis
Galleria mellonella
Streptococcus mutans
Virulence factors
Descripción
Sumario:Candida albicans causes a variety of clinical manifestations through multiple virulence factors that act simultaneously to overcome the immune system and invade the host tissues. Owing to the limited number of antifungal agents available, new candidiasis therapeutic strategies are required. Previous studies have demonstrated that the metabolites produced by Streptococcus mutans lead to a decrease in the number of Candida cells. Here, for the first time, we evaluated whether the C. albicans cells that survived the pretreatment with S. mutans supernatant can modify their virulence factors and their capability to infect Galleria mellonella larvae. Streptococcus mutans supernatant (SM-S) was obtained by filtering the culture supernatant of this bacterium. Then, C. albicans cells were pretreated with SM-S for 24 h, and the surviving cells were evaluated using in vitro and in vivo assays. The C. albicans pretreated with SM-S showed a significant inhibition of hyphal growth, an altered adhesion pattern, and an impaired capability to form biofilms; however, its proteolytic activity was not affected. In the in vivo assays, C. albicans cells previously exposed to SM-S exhibited a reduced ability to infect G. mellonella and a higher amount of circulating hemocytes. Thus, SM-S could inhibit important virulence factors of C. albicans, which may contribute to the development of new candidiasis therapeutic strategies.