Susceptibility to caspofungin is regulated by temperature and is dependent on calcineurin in Candida albicans.

Abstract

IMPORTANCE:

Echinocandins are the newest antifungal drugs and are first-line treatment option for life-threatening systemic infections. Due to lack of consensus regarding what temperature should be used when evaluating susceptibility of yeasts to echinocandins, typically either 30°C, 35°C, or 37°C is used. However, the impact of temperature on antifungal efficacy of echinocandins is unexplored. In the current study, we demonstrated that Candida albicans laboratory strain SC5314 was more susceptible to caspofungin at 37°C than at 30°C. We also found that calcineurin was required for temperature-modulated caspofungin susceptibility. Surprisingly, the altered caspofungin susceptibility was not due to differential expression of some canonical genes such as FKS, CHS, or CHT genes. The molecular mechanism of temperature-modulated caspofungin susceptibility is undetermined and deserves further investigations.

• Authors: Lijun Zheng, Yi Xu, Chen Wang, Feng Yang, Yubo Dong, Liangsheng Guo
• Journal: Microbiology spectrum (Microbiol Spectr) Vol. 11 Issue 6 Pg. e0179023 (Dec 12 2023) ISSN: 2165-0497 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 37966204 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Caspofungin
• Antifungal Agents
• Calcineurin
• Echinocandins

Topics

• Caspofungin (pharmacology)
• Antifungal Agents (therapeutic use)
• Candida albicans
• Calcineurin (genetics, metabolism)
• Temperature
• Echinocandins (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Microbial Sensitivity Tests
• Drug Resistance, Fungal