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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Establishment of an In vitro System to Study Intracellular Behavior of Candida glabrata in Human THP-1 Macrophages
Published on: December 11, 2013
Induction of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 expression in monocytic cells by Cryptococcus neoformans and Candida
T S Harrison1, S Nong, S M Levitz
1Evans Memorial Department of Clinical Research, Boston Medical Center, Massachusetts 02118, USA.
Abstract:
Because candidiasis and cryptococcosis are common in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected persons, the effect of Cryptococcus neoformans and Candida albicans on HIV expression in monocytic cells was examined. Stimulation of the latently HIV-infected myelomonocytic cell line OM-10.1 with C. neoformans and C. albicans in the presence of pooled human serum caused a ratio-dependent increase in HIV production. Induction of HIV by C. neoformans was enhanced by anti-capsular antibody, while induction by both organisms was inhibited by anti-TNF-alpha antibody. In THP-1 cells transfected with HIV plasmid constructs, both organisms induced transcription from the HIV long terminal repeat that was dependent on intact NF-kappaB binding sequences. Thus, C. neoformans and C. albicans enhance HIV expression in monocytic cells through a TNF-alpha- and NF-kappaB-dependent mechanism. In HIV-infected patients, such enhancement may further impair host immunity and could accelerate the course of HIV disease.
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