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Influence of W-7, a calmodulin antagonist on phospholipid biosynthesis in Candida albicans
N K Dhillon1, S Sharma, G K Khuller
1Department of Biochemistry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Aim:
This study was undertaken to investigate the role of calmodulin in phospholipid biosynthesis in Candida albicans using W-7, a calmodulin antagonist.
Methods:
Cells were grown as shake cultures in the absence and presence of W-7 at different concentrations. Changes in cell mass, phospholipid content and incorporation of labelled precursor into phospholipid and activities of respective enzymes have been studied.
Results:
Decreased incorporation of labelled acetate into total lipids and phospholipids was observed in the presence of 40 microm of W-7 which was not as a consequence of altered growth of Candida in the presence of calmodulin antagonist. Further, a significant decrease in the levels of calmodulin and CaM dependent protein kinase activity was observed in cells grown with different concentrations of W-7. This was accompanied by decreased/increased activity of phosphatidic acid phosphatase and phospholipase A, respectively in W-7 grown cells as compared to controls.
Conclusions:
These findings suggest definite involvement of calmodulin in the regulation of phospholipid metabolism in Candida albicans.
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