Dissecting Candida albicans Infection from the Perspective of C. albicans Virulence and Omics Approaches on Host–Pathogen Interaction: A Review

Abstract

Candida bloodstream infections remain the most frequent life-threatening fungal disease, with Candida albicans accounting for 70% to 80% of the Candida isolates recovered from infected patients. In nature, Candida species are part of the normal commensal flora in mammalian hosts. However, they can transform into pathogens once the host immune system is weakened or breached. More recently, mortality attributed to Candida infections has continued to increase due to both inherent and acquired drug resistance in Candida, the inefficacy of the available antifungal drugs, tedious diagnostic procedures, and a rising number of immunocompromised patients. Adoption of animal models, viz. minihosts, mice, and zebrafish, has brought us closer to unraveling the pathogenesis and complexity of Candida infection in human hosts, leading towards the discovery of biomarkers and identification of potential therapeutic agents. In addition, the advancement of omics technologies offers a holistic view of the Candida-host interaction in a non-targeted and non-biased manner. Hence, in this review, we seek to summarize past and present milestone findings on C. albicans virulence, adoption of animal models in the study of C. albicans infection, and the application of omics technologies in the study of Candida–host interaction. A profound understanding of the interaction between host defense and pathogenesis is imperative for better design of novel immunotherapeutic strategies in future.

An Immunomodulatory Peptide Confers Protection in an Experimental Candidemia Murine Model

“…Treatments with these antifungals, especially amphotericin B, require hospitalization to closely evaluate renal function due to their potential renal toxicity (6)(7)(8). Case mortality rates range between 29% and 76%, despite the increased use of antifungals, and are 5% to 71% in the ICU setting (9,10).…”

Genotyping and Antifungal Susceptibility Profile of Sequential Candida albicans Isolated from the Oral Cavity of HIV-Infected Individuals

“…When colonization occurs, Candida species may be balanced and more stable, a behavior that changes to unbalanced in a pathogenic state, under the pressure of several factors, among them, intense production of no less than nine Saps (SAP1 to SAP9) encoded by a single gene family [30,31], the cell-mediated immune response of the host, and the antifungal and antiretroviral substances in use for therapeutical reasons. This may explain the higher similarity among colonizing than infecting C. albicans isolates, found in our experiments, as it was observed by the failure of oral host defenses in AIDS patients, indicated by the increase in Candida spp.…”

Shugoshin promotes efficient activation of spindle assembly checkpoint and timely spindle disassembly

“…Candida albicans, is the most prevalent fungal pathogen in humans (reviewed in Legrand et al 2019). This resides as a commensal organism in gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts as a part of natural microflora but also as an opportunistic organism it infects mucous membrane, skin and nails and causes several non-lethal diseases collectively called as candidiasis (Sternberg 1994, Chin et al 2016. In immunocompromised patients, C. albicans can enter the bloodstream to cause systemic infection, where mortality rate can go up to 50% (Gudlaugsson et al 2003, Eggimann et al 2003.…”