Sh. Yan et al., SPECIFIC INDUCTION OF FIBRONECTIN-BINDING ACTIVITY BY HEMOGLOBIN IN CANDIDA-ALBICANS GROWN IN DEFINED MEDIA, Infection and immunity, 64(8), 1996, pp. 2930-2935
Fibronectin (FN) is a major component of host estracellular matrix tha
t may play an important role in the initiation and dissemination of Ca
ndida albicans infections. Expression of FN binding requires growth of
C. albicans blastoconidia in complex medium, and the regulation of FN
receptor expression is poorly understood. We now demonstrate that hem
oglobin is a potent and specific inducer of FN receptor expression and
describe a defined medium supplemented with hemoglobin that greatly a
nd stably enhances the binding activity of C. albicans for soluble FN.
Enhancement of FN binding by hemoglobin in strain 44807 was concentra
tion dependent and was maximal at 0.1% hemoglobin with 20- to 80-fold
enhancement. The hemoglobin-induced FN binding to C. albicans was satu
rable, with a K-d of 2.7 x 10(-8) M. Enhancement required growth of C.
albicans in hemoglobin-containing medium, since simply exposing blast
oconidia to hemoglobin in a nongrowing status did not enhance binding.
Induction was reversible following removal of hemoglobin from the gro
wth medium and not associated with germination. Inorganic or protein-b
ound iron was not sufficient for the induction, since other iron-conta
ining proteins or inorganic iron salts were inactive. Growth in the si
mple medium yeast nitrogen base supplemented with hemoglobin increased
cell adhesion to immobilized FN and to cultured monolayers of bovine
corneal endothelial cells. These data suggest that hemoglobin may be a
n important regulator of FN binding activity in C. albicans and thus m
ay play a role in its pathogenesis.