Characterization of thiol-specific antioxidant 1 (TSA1) of Candida albicans

We previously identified several proteins that are differentially expressed in pathogenic hyphae by comparing protein profiles of yeast and hyphae of Candida albicans. One of these, thiol-specific antioxidant 1 (TSA1), attracted our attention because it may play some roles in surviving an unfavourable oxidative environment created by host cells. Two alleles of the C. albicans TSA1 (CaTSA1) gene are located in opposite orientation on the same chromosome. Using PCR-directed disruption cassettes and URA-Blaster, a series of deletion mutants that lack one to four copies were constructed to examine the functions of CaTSA1. Northern and Western analyses showed that both the transcript and protein products of CaTSA1 decreased proportionally to the disrupted copy number and were completely absent in the null mutant, indicating that all four TSA1 copies are equally functional at the transcriptional level. Intracellular H2O2 increased by an order of magnitude in deletion mutants lacking three to four copies, suggesting that CaTsa1p is not a redundant H2O2 scavenger. CaTsa1p was indispensable for yeast-to-hyphal transition when C. albicans was cultured under oxidative stress. The level of its oxidized form increased approximately five-fold in hyphal cells, whereas that of the reduced form increased two-fold compared to yeast cells. The ratio of oxidized to reduced form was increased three-fold in hyphal cells. This overall increase was found to be controlled at the post-transcriptional level. Interestingly, CaTsa1p is translocated to the nucleus of hyphal cells. These findings may be of biological significance for differentiation and pathogenicity.