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Hansakon A, Angkasekwinai P. Murine Models of Cryptococcus Infection. Curr Protoc 2024; 4:e1001. [PMID: 38456766 DOI: 10.1002/cpz1.1001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/09/2024]
Abstract
Cryptococcus is recognized as one of the emerging fungal pathogens that have major impact on diverse populations worldwide. Because of the high mortality rate and limited antifungal therapy options, there is an urgent need to understand the impact of dynamic processes between fungal pathogens and hosts that influence cryptococcal pathogenesis and disease outcomes. With known common limitations in human studies, experimental murine cryptococcosis models that can recapitulate human disease provide a valuable tool for studying fungal virulence and the host interaction, leading to development of better treatment strategies. Infection with Cryptococcus in mice via intranasal inhalation is mostly used because it is noninvasive and considered to be the most common mode of infection, strongly correlating with cryptococcal disease in humans. The protocols described in this article provide the procedures of establishing a murine model of Cryptococcus infection by intranasal inhalation and assessing the host immune response and disease progression during Cryptococcus infection. © 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Murine model of pulmonary cryptococcal infection via intranasal inhalation Basic Protocol 2: Assessment of the pulmonary immune response during Cryptococcus infection Support Protocol: Evaluation of pulmonary gene expression by real-time PCR Basic Protocol 3: Enumeration of survival rate and organ fungal burden.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adithap Hansakon
- Chulabhorn International College of Medicine, Thammasat University, Pathum Thani, Thailand
| | - Pornpimon Angkasekwinai
- Department of Medical Technology, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Thammasat University, Pathum Thani, Thailand
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Peres da Silva R, Martins SDT, Rizzo J, Dos Reis FCG, Joffe LS, Vainstein M, Kmetzsch L, Oliveira DL, Puccia R, Goldenberg S, Rodrigues ML, Alves LR. Golgi Reassembly and Stacking Protein (GRASP) Participates in Vesicle-Mediated RNA Export in Cryptococcus Neoformans. Genes (Basel) 2018; 9:genes9080400. [PMID: 30096850 PMCID: PMC6115741 DOI: 10.3390/genes9080400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2018] [Revised: 07/25/2018] [Accepted: 07/31/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Golgi reassembly and stacking protein (GRASP) is required for polysaccharide secretion and virulence in Cryptococcus neoformans. In fungal species, extracellular vesicles (EVs) participate in the export of polysaccharides, proteins and RNA. In the present work, we investigated if EV-mediated RNA export is functionally connected with GRASP in C. neoformans using a graspΔ mutant. Since GRASP-mediated unconventional secretion involves autophagosome formation in yeast, we included the atg7Δ mutant with defective autophagic mechanisms in our analysis. All fungal strains exported EVs but deletion of GRASP or ATG7 profoundly affected vesicular dimensions. The mRNA content of the graspΔ EVs differed substantially from that of the other two strains. The transcripts associated to the endoplasmic reticulum were highly abundant transcripts in graspΔ EVs. Among non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), tRNA fragments were the most abundant in both mutant EVs but graspΔ EVs alone concentrated 22 exclusive sequences. In general, our results showed that the EV RNA content from atg7Δ and WT were more related than the RNA content of graspΔ, suggesting that GRASP, but not the autophagy regulator Atg7, is involved in the EV export of RNA. This is a previously unknown function for a key regulator of unconventional secretion in eukaryotic cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberta Peres da Silva
- Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia da Escola Paulista de Medicina-UNIFESP, São Paulo, SP 04023-062, Brazil.
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
| | | | - Juliana Rizzo
- Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-901, Brazil.
| | - Flavia C G Dos Reis
- Instituto Carlos Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz-PR, Curitiba, PR 81310-020, Brazil.
| | - Luna S Joffe
- Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico em Saúde (CDTS), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21040-900, Brazil.
| | - Marilene Vainstein
- Centro de Biotecnologia e Departamento de Biologia Molecular e Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS 91501-970, Brazil.
| | - Livia Kmetzsch
- Centro de Biotecnologia e Departamento de Biologia Molecular e Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS 91501-970, Brazil.
| | - Débora L Oliveira
- Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico em Saúde (CDTS), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21040-900, Brazil.
| | - Rosana Puccia
- Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia da Escola Paulista de Medicina-UNIFESP, São Paulo, SP 04023-062, Brazil.
| | - Samuel Goldenberg
- Instituto Carlos Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz-PR, Curitiba, PR 81310-020, Brazil.
| | - Marcio L Rodrigues
- Instituto Carlos Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz-PR, Curitiba, PR 81310-020, Brazil.
- Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-901, Brazil.
| | - Lysangela R Alves
- Instituto Carlos Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz-PR, Curitiba, PR 81310-020, Brazil.
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