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Updated: Jun 3, 2026
Gene Expression Profiling of Infecting Microbes Using a Digital Bar-coding Platform
Published on: January 13, 2016
Transcriptome profiling of endothelial cells during infections with high and low densities of C. albicans cells
Crystale S Y Lim1, Rozita Rosli, Heng-Fong Seow
1Dept. of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Abstract:
Systemic infections of Candida albicans, the most prevalent fungal pathogen in humans, are on the rise in recent years. However, the exact mode of pathogenesis of this fungus is still not well elucidated. Previous studies using C. albicans mutants locked into the yeast form via gene deletion found that this form was avirulent and did not induce significant differential expression of host genes in vitro. In this study, a high density of C. albicans was used to infect human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), resulting in yeast-form infections, whilst a low density of C. albicans resulted in hyphae infections. Transcriptional profiling of HUVEC response to these infections showed that high densities of C. albicans induced a stronger, broader transcriptional response from HUVEC than low densities of C. albicans infection. Many of the genes that were significantly differentially expressed were involved in apoptosis and cell death. In addition, conditioned media from the high-density infections caused a significant reduction in HUVEC viability, suggesting that certain molecules released during C. albicans and HUVEC interactions were capable of causing cell death. This study has shown that C. albicans yeast-forms, at high densities, cannot be dismissed as avirulent, but instead could possibly contribute to C. albicans pathogenesis.
Insights
High-density Candida albicans yeast infections trigger a strong host response, inducing apoptosis and cell death. These findings challenge the notion that yeast-form C. albicans is avirulent, suggesting a role in pathogenesis.
Area of Science:
- Mycology
- Infectious Diseases
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Systemic Candida albicans infections are increasing, yet its pathogenesis remains unclear.
- Previous studies suggested yeast-form Candida albicans is avirulent, lacking host gene response.
- This study investigates the pathogenic potential of yeast-form Candida albicans at high densities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the host response to different densities of Candida albicans infection.
- To investigate the role of yeast-form Candida albicans in pathogenesis.
- To analyze the transcriptional changes in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) during infection.
Main Methods:
- Infection of HUVEC with high and low densities of Candida albicans.
- Transcriptional profiling of HUVEC to analyze gene expression changes.
- Assessment of HUVEC viability after exposure to conditioned media from infections.
Main Results:
- High-density Candida albicans infections induced a stronger and broader transcriptional response in HUVEC compared to low-density infections.
- Many differentially expressed genes were associated with apoptosis and cell death pathways.
- Conditioned media from high-density infections reduced HUVEC viability, indicating cytotoxic molecule release.
Conclusions:
- High-density yeast-form Candida albicans infections are not avirulent and can induce significant host cell responses.
- Candida albicans may contribute to pathogenesis through mechanisms involving yeast-form proliferation and secreted factors.
- Further research is needed to elucidate the specific molecules and pathways involved in yeast-form-mediated pathogenesis.
