Effect of Candida albicans cell wall components on the adhesion of the fungus to human and murine vaginal mucosa

In this study, cell walls from Candida albicans were separated and chitin was isolated from these cell walls. A chitin soluble extract (CSE) prepared from the chitin inhibited in vitro adhesion of C. albicans to human epithelial vaginal cells (VEC), and blocked in vivo attachment to murine vaginal m...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mycopathologia (1975) 1988-05, Vol.102 (2), p.115-121
Main Authors: LEHRER, N, SEGAL, E, LIS, H, GOV, Y
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Candida albicans
Candida albicans - physiology
Candidiasis, Vulvovaginal - microbiology
Cell Adhesion
Cell Wall - physiology
Chitin - physiology
Chromatography, Gel
Epithelium - microbiology
Experimental mycoses and models
Female
Humans
Infectious diseases
Medical sciences
Mice
Mycoses
Vagina - microbiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In this study, cell walls from Candida albicans were separated and chitin was isolated from these cell walls. A chitin soluble extract (CSE) prepared from the chitin inhibited in vitro adhesion of C. albicans to human epithelial vaginal cells (VEC), and blocked in vivo attachment to murine vaginal mucosa, thereby preventing candidal infection in these animals. These findings suggest that the CSE acts as an adhesin-like substance. Fractionation of CSE yielded two fractions: FI and FII, of which only FI exhibited inhibitory activity. Chemical analysis of CSE and its two fractions revealed that CSE contains over 70% of proteins, most of which were found in the non-active fraction. In addition, 3% of amino-sugars were found in the FI active fraction. Lipids were also detected in the unfractionated CSE and in both fractions. Experiments to further characterize the component(s) in the CSE inhibiting the attachment of C. albicans are in progress in our laboratory.
ISSN:0301-486X
1573-0832
DOI:10.1007/bf00437448