Hydrolytic Gene Expression during Oroesophageal and Gastric Candidiasis in Immunocompetent and Immunodeficient Gnotobiotic Mice

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases 2003-08, Vol.188 (4), p.591-599
• Main Authors: Schofield, David A., Westwater, Caroline, Warner, Thomas, Nicholas, Peter J., Paulling, Emily E., Balish, Edward
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases - genetics; Biological and medical sciences; Candida albicans; Candida albicans - genetics; Candida albicans - pathogenicity; Candidiasis; Candidiasis - immunology; Candidiasis - microbiology; Esophageal Diseases - immunology; Esophageal Diseases - microbiology; Esophagus; Esophagus - microbiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fungal Proteins - genetics; Fungi; Gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; Germ-Free Life - immunology; Hydrolysis; Immunocompetence - immunology; Infections; Mice; Mice, Transgenic; Microbiology; Mouth - microbiology; Mouth Diseases - immunology; Mouth Diseases - microbiology; Mycology; Palate; Pathogenicity, host-agent relations, miscellaneous strains, epidemiology; Polymerase chain reaction; Reproducibility of Results; Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; Stomach; Stomach - microbiology; Stomach Diseases - immunology; Stomach Diseases - microbiology; Virulence; Virulence - genetics
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/377182

To investigate whether host immunocompetence influences hydrolytic gene expression, we compared secretory aspartyl proteinase gene (SAP) and phospholipase B gene (PLB) expression during gastric candidiasis in immunocompetent and defined immunodeficient gnotobiotic mice, by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. The use of immunodeficient gnotobiotic mice with combined defects in T cells and natural killer cells enabled a comprehensive study of virulence gene expression in various mucosal sites during lethal oroesophageal (tongue, palate, and esophagus) and gastric candidiasis. All 10 SAP and both PLB genes were expressed in both immunocompetent and specific immunodeficient mice, which suggests that the absence of important components of the host defense did not alter gene expression during gastric candidiasis. Although similar patterns of gene expression were evident in different oral tissues, we detected specific differences between Candida albicans–infected oroesophageal and gastric tissues and differences at various time points during the progression of gastric candidiasis