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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, September 2002, p. 3096-3100, Vol. 46, No. 9
0066-4804/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AAC.46.9.3096-3100.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Effect of the Echinocandin Caspofungin on Expression of Candida albicans Secretory Aspartyl Proteinases and Phospholipase In Vitro

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal,¹ Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada,³ Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, Texas²

Received 15 March 2002/ Returned for modification 27 March 2002/ Accepted 11 June 2002

Although the echinocandin caspofungin primarily inhibits the synthesis of cell wall 1,3-ß-D-glucan, its fungicidal activity could also potentially perturb the expression of virulence factors involved in the ability of Candida albicans to cause infection. Expression of the C. albicans secretory aspartyl proteinase (SAP) and phospholipase B (PLB) virulence genes was determined by reverse transcription-PCR after the addition of caspofungin to cells grown for 15 h in Sabouraud dextrose broth. In cells that remained viable, expression of SAP1 to SAP3, SAP7 to SAP9, and PLB1 was unaltered after exposure to fungicidal concentrations (4 to 16 µg/ml) of caspofungin over a period of 7 h. However, expression of SAP5 increased steadily beginning 1 h after exposure to caspofungin. These results indicate that caspofungin is rapidly fungicidal against C. albicans, before any suppression of SAP or PLB1 gene expression can occur.

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