<i>Candida albicans</i> biofilm extracellular vesicles deliver candidalysin to epithelial cell membranes and induce host cell responses
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are heterogeneous particles encapsulated with a phospholipid bilayer membrane. EVs have evolved diverse biological functions, serving mainly as prominent mediators and regulators of cell-cell communication. This study investigated whether candidalysin, a key virulence factor in <i>Candida albicans</i> infections, is present within EVs derived from <i>C. albicans</i> biofilms and retains activity by inducing host immune responses. We found that biofilm EVs contain candidalysin and can permeabilize planar lipid bilayer membranes in a dose-dependent manner. However, biofilm EVs were unable to damage oral epithelial cells (OECs) but were able to induce cytokine responses. Notably, EVs obtained from biofilms cultured for 24 h and 48 h exhibited differences in cargo composition and their ability to activate OECs. This study highlights the potential of biofilm EVs as a toxin delivery system during <i>C. albicans</i> infection and identifies temporal differences in the ability of EVs to activate epithelial cells.
Authors
- Bernhard Hube (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6028-0425)
- Julian R. Naglik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8072-7917)
- David R. Andes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7927-9950)
- Sejeong Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8617-3436)
- Robert Żarnowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6343-1500)
- Antzela Tsavou
- Jonathan P. Richardson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9638-2725)
- Axel A. Brakhage (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8814-4193)
- Olaf Kniemeyer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9493-6402)
- Thomas Krüger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8984-3853)
- Stefanie Allert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0823-4824)
- Tam T. T. Bui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8074-4928)
- Rita Pforte
Institutions
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- King's College London (GB)
- Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Microbiology (CZ)
- Leibniz-Institut für Naturstoff-Forschung und Infektionsbiologie e. V. - Hans-Knöll-Institut (HKI) (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Infection and Immunity
- Published
- 2025-04-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1128/iai.00404-24
- Citations
- 7
- Primary Topic
- Bacterial Infections and Vaccines
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 8.28
Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- National Institutes of Health
- Leibniz-Gemeinschaft
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases