cryptococcus neoformans capsular enlargement and cellular gigantism during galleria mellonella infection新型隐球菌荚膜增大和细胞在拱廊mellonella巨人症感染.pdfVIP

Cryptococcus neoformans Capsular Enlargement and Cellular Gigantism during Galleria mellonella Infection ´ ´ 1 2 ´ ´ 1 1 Rocıo Garcıa-Rodas , Arturo Casadevall , Juan Luıs Rodrıguez-Tudela , Manuel Cuenca-Estrella , Oscar Zaragoza1* 1 Mycology Reference Laboratory, National Centre for Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain, 2 Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America Abstract We have studied infection of Cryptococcus neoformans in the non-vertebrate host Galleria mellonella with particular interest in the morphological response of the yeast. Inoculation of C. neoformans in caterpillars induced a capsule-independent increase in haemocyte density 2 h after infection. C. neoformans manifested a significant increase in capsule size after inoculation into the caterpillar. The magnitude of capsule increase depended on the temperature, being more pronounced at 37uC than at 30uC, which correlated with an increased virulence of the fungus and reduced phagocytosis at 37uC. Capsule enlargement impaired phagocytosis by haemocytes. Incubation of the yeast in G. mellonella extracts also resulted in capsule enlargement, with the polar lipidic fraction having a prominent role in this effect. During infection, the capsule decreased in permeability. A low proportion of the cells (,5%) recovered from caterpillars measured more than 30 mm and were considered giant cells. Giant cells recovered from mice were able to kill the caterpillars in a manner similar to regular cells obtained from in vivo or grown in vitro, establishing their capacity to c