Candida glabrata : A Lot More Than Meets the Eye

• Published in: Microorganisms (Basel) Vol. 7; no. 2; p. 39
• Main Authors: Kumar, Kundan, Askari, Fizza, Sahu, Mahima Sagar, Kaur, Rupinder
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 30-01-2019; MDPI
• Subjects: adherence; Adhesins; aspartyl proteases; biofilm formation; Biofilms; Candida glabrata; Cell surface; Cellular stress response; Chromosomes; Endothelial cells; Gene expression; Genomes; host immune cells; Immune response; Immune system; Infections; Inflammation; Ligands; Macrophages; Mucosa; Opportunist infection; Pathogens; Proteolysis; Review; stress response mechanisms; Urogenital system; Vagina; Virulence; Yeast; yeast pathogens; Yeasts; United States > US; aspartyl proteases; yeast pathogens; host immune cells; adherence; biofilm formation; Candida glabrata; stress response mechanisms
• ISSN: 2076-2607; 2076-2607
• DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms7020039

is an opportunistic human fungal pathogen that causes superficial mucosal and life-threatening bloodstream infections in individuals with a compromised immune system. Evolutionarily, it is closer to the non-pathogenic yeast
than to the most prevalent
bloodstream pathogen,
.
is a haploid budding yeast that predominantly reproduces clonally. In this review, we summarize interactions of
with the host immune, epithelial and endothelial cells, and the ingenious strategies it deploys to acquire iron and phosphate from the external environment. We outline various attributes including cell surface-associated adhesins and aspartyl proteases, biofilm formation and stress response mechanisms, that contribute to the virulence of
. We further discuss how,
, despite lacking morphological switching and secreted proteolytic activity, is able to disarm macrophage, dampen the host inflammatory immune response and replicate intracellularly.