Ex Vivo Host Transcriptomics During <i>Cryptococcus neoformans</i>, <i>Cryptococcus gattii</i>, and <i>Candida albicans</i> Infection of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells From South African Volunteers
Cryptococcus neoformans, Cryptococcus gattii, and Candida albicans are opportunistic fungal pathogens associated with infections in immunocompromised hosts. Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is the leading fungal cause of human immunodeficiency virus-related deaths globally, with the majority occurring in Africa. The human immune response to C albicans infection has been studied extensively in large genomics studies whereas cryptococcal infections, despite their severity, are comparatively understudied. Here we investigated the transcriptional response of immune cells after in vitro stimulation with in vitro C neoformans, C gattii, and C albicans infection of peripheral blood mononuclear cells collected from healthy South African volunteers. We found a lower transcriptional response to cryptococcal stimuli compared to C albicans and unique expression signatures from all 3 fungal stimuli. This work provides a starting point for further studies comparing the transcriptional signature of CM in immunocompromised patients, with the goal of identifying biomarkers of disease severity and possible novel treatment targets.
Authors
- Tihana Bicanic
- Graeme Meintjes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1196-4414)
- Alan Pittman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8112-2987)
- Ronan Doyle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5001-1945)
- Mihai Gheorghe Netea (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2421-6052)
- Thomas S. Harrison (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3619-4348)
- Vinod Kumar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2775-6049)
- Rene T. Goliath (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9818-4634)
- James Milburn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9885-6103)
- Joseph N Jarvis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1459-5554)
- Shichina Kannambath (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4758-9161)
Institutions
- University of London (GB)
- Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
- University of Cape Town (ZA)
- University of Exeter (GB)
- St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- University Medical Center (US)
- Radboud University Medical Center (NL)
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (GB)
- Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa (ZA)
- Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership (BW)
- Genomics (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Medical Research Council (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Journal of Infectious Diseases
- Published
- 2024-08-19
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiae410
- Primary Topic
- Fungal Infections and Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- Government of the United Kingdom
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- Department of Health and Social Care
- University of Cape Town
- Medical Research Council