Quantifying the forces driving cell-cell adhesion in a fungal pathogen.

Area of Science:

• Medical Mycology
• Biophysics
• Cellular Adhesion

Background:

• Candida albicans forms biofilms on medical devices, causing infections.
• Biofilm architecture relies on yeast-hyphae cell-cell adhesion, but underlying forces are poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify adhesion forces between Candida albicans yeast and hyphal cells.
• To investigate the role of agglutinin-like sequence (Als) proteins in cell-cell adhesion.

Main Methods:

• Single-cell force spectroscopy was employed to measure adhesion forces.
• Mutant strains deficient in Als expression were used to assess protein function.

Main Results:

• Adhesion involves strong, short-range cohesive (1.1 ± 0.2 nN) and weak, long-range tether (0.4 ± 0.2 nN) interactions.
• Als3 proteins are critical for strong cohesive adhesion between yeast and hyphal cells.
• Adhesion is mediated by C. albicans-specific cell surface proteins.

Conclusions:

• Als proteins mediate fungal cell-cell adhesion through hydrophobic interactions.
• This study provides the first direct measurement of fungal cell adhesion forces.
• Understanding these forces offers insights into fungal biofilm cohesion and integrity.