Structure and biological activities of acapsular Cryptococcus neoformans 602 complemented with the CAP64 gene

The extracellular polysaccharide capsule of Cryptococcus neoformans is a well-recognized virulence factor. Strain 602 is an acapsular clinical isolate of unknown serotype which has been widely used in studies of virulence and host-parasite interactions. In previous studies, strain 602 was compared with genetically unrelated strains of various serotypes because the wild-type equivalent of strain 602 was not available. We created an encapsulated strain, TYCC38-602, by transforming strain 602 with the CAP64 gene which was isolated from a serotype D strain. Serological tests and chemical analysis of the major polysaccharide capsule of TYCC38-602 indicated that strain 602 was originally derived from a serotype A strain. Restoration of the ability to produce a capsule enabled strain 602 to cause fatal infection in mice, whereas the acapsular strain 602 remained avirulent. Capsule-restored yeast cells of strain 602 activated the human complement system and bound C3 fragments in a manner that is characteristic of encapsulated cryptococci. In addition, the capsule in TYCC38-602 masked the ability of the organism to induce tumor necrosis factor alpha and subsequent nitric oxide synthase production in primed macrophage-like cells. These results indicate that the lack of capsule in strain 602 is the reason for its inability to cause fatal infection. Moreover, the acapsular phenotype accounts for differences in various biological activities of strain 602 compared to encapsulated strains. The results also indicate that the gene product of CAP64 does not contribute to serotype specificity of capsules in C. neoformans.