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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, September 1999, p. 2256-2262, Vol. 43, No. 9
0066-4804/99/$04.00+0
Histatin 3-Mediated Killing of Candida
albicans: Effect of Extracellular Salt Concentration on Binding
and Internalization
Yanying
Xu,1,
Indu
Ambudkar,1
Hisako
Yamagishi,1,
William
Swaim,2
Thomas J.
Walsh,3 and
Brian C.
O'Connell1,*
Gene Therapy and Therapeutics
Branch1 and Cellular Imaging Core
Facility,2 National Institute of Dental and
Craniofacial Research, and Immunocompromised Host Section,
Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer
Institute,3 Bethesda, Maryland 20892
Received 8 April 1999/Returned for modification 28 May
1999/Accepted 12 July 1999
Human saliva contains histidine-rich proteins, histatins, which
have antifungal activity in vitro. The mechanism by which histatins are
able to kill Candida albicans may have clinical significance but is currently unknown. Using radiolabeled histatin 3, we show that the protein binds to C. albicans spheroplasts in a manner that is dependent on time and concentration. Binding to the
spheroplasts was saturable and could be competed with unlabeled histatin 3. A single histatin 3 binding site with a
Kd = 5.1 µM was detected. Histatin 3 binding
resulted in potassium and magnesium efflux, predominantly within the
first 30 min of incubation. Studies with fluorescent histatin 3 demonstrate that the protein is internalized by C. albicans
and that translocation of histatin inside the cell is closely
associated with cell death. Histatin binding, internalization, and cell
death are accelerated in low-ionic-strength conditions. Indeed, a low
extracellular salt concentration was essential for cell death to occur,
even when histatin 3 was already bound to the cell. The interaction of
histatin 3 with C. albicans, and subsequent cell death, is
inhibited at low temperature. These results demonstrate that the
candidacidal activity of histatin 3 is not due exclusively to binding
at the cell surface but also involves subsequent interactions with the cell.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: School of Dental
Science, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland. Phone: 353-1-612-7312. Fax: 353-1-612-7298. E-mail: BrianO'Connell{at}dental.tcd.ie.
Present address: School of Stomatology, Beijing Medical University,
Haidan District, Beijing 10081, China.

Present address: Department of Pharmacology, Tokyo Dental College,
Mihamaku, Chiba 261-8502,
Japan.
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, September 1999, p. 2256-2262, Vol. 43, No. 9
0066-4804/99/$04.00+0
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