Heterogeneity of metallo and serine extracellular proteinases in oral clinical isolates of Candida albicans in HIV-positive and healthy children from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

• Published in: FEMS immunology and medical microbiology Vol. 38; no. 2; pp. 173 - 180
• Main Authors: Costa, Edja Maria Melo de Brito, dos Santos, André Luis Souza, Cardoso, Abel Silveira, Portela, Maristela Barbosa, Abreu, Celina Monteiro, Alviano, Celuta Sales, Hagler, Allen Norton, Soares, Rosangela Maria de Araújo
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Elsevier B.V 22-09-2003; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Blackwell
• Subjects: AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections - microbiology; Biological and medical sciences; Candida albicans; Candida albicans - classification; Candida albicans - enzymology; Candida albicans - growth & development; Candida albicans - isolation & purification; Candidiasis, Oral - microbiology; CD4 + T cell; CD4 Lymphocyte Count; Child; Child, Preschool; Culture Media, Conditioned; Extracellular proteolytic activity; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; HIV Infections - complications; HIV Infections - virology; HIV-1 - physiology; HIV-infected child; Human viral diseases; Humans; Infant; Infectious diseases; Medical sciences; Metalloproteases - classification; Metalloproteases - metabolism; Microbiology; Mycology; Oral clinical isolate; Pathogenicity, host-agent relations, miscellaneous strains, epidemiology; Serine and metalloproteinase; Serine Endopeptidases - classification; Serine Endopeptidases - metabolism; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the lymphoid tissue and the blood. Aids; Viral Load; South America; Brazil; America; Serine and metalloproteinase; Candida albicans; CD4 + T cell; Extracellular proteolytic activity; Oral clinical isolate; HIV-infected child; CD4; T cell; Human; Immunopathology; Opportunistic infection; Yeast; Enzyme; Serine; AIDS; Immune deficiency; Extracellular; Fungi; Infection; Peptidases; Viral disease; Aminoacid; Hydrolases; Fungi Imperfecti; Child; Clinical isolate; Thallophyta
• ISSN: 0928-8244; 1574-695X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0928-8244(03)00145-7

Candida yeasts frequently cause life-threatening systemic infections in immunocompromised hosts. In the present study, gelatin-SDS–PAGE analysis was used to characterize extracellular proteinases in 44 oral clinical isolates of
Candida albicans from HIV-positive (29/50) and healthy children (15/50). Our survey indicates that these oral clinical isolates of
C. albicans have complex extracellular proteolytic activity profiles, which illustrates the heterogeneity of this species. We showed four distinct proteolytic patterns composed of distinct serine (30–58 kDa) and metalloproteinase (64–95 kDa) activities, based on the inhibition profile with phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and 1,10-phenanthroline, respectively. This is the first report on secreted serine and metalloproteinases present in the culture supernatant fluids of
C. albicans; however, we did not observe a significant correlation between proteolytic profile expressed by the
C. albicans isolates from HIV-positive children and CD4
+ T cell count and plasma viral load.