Clinical strains of Candida albicans express the surface antigen glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase in vitro and in infected tissues

We have previously described the presence of an enzymatically active form o f glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate-dehydrogenase (GAPDH) in the cell surface of C andida albicans ATCC 26555 which is also a fibronectin and laminin binding protein. Immunohistochemical analysis of tissue sections from patients with disseminated candidiasis with a polyclonal antiserum to GAPDH from C. albi cans (PAb anti-CA-GAPDH) revealed that the enzyme is expressed at the surfa ce of fungal cells in infected tissues. The same PAb detected the presence of GAPDH species, with a molecular mass of approximately 33 kDa, in cell wa ll extracts obtained from clinical isolates of the fungus. These cell surfa ce-bound GAPDH moieties exhibited a dose-dependent dehydrogenase activity. These results indicate that this cell surface-bound GAPDH plays a role duri ng infection, probably contributing to the attachment of fungal cells to ho st tissues. (C) 1999 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Publ ished by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.