Localization and functional characterization of the pathogenesis-related proteins Rbe1p and Rbt4p in Candida albicans

Yannick Bantel; Rabih Darwiche; Steffen Rupp; Roger Schneiter; Kai Sohn

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0201932

Localization and functional characterization of the pathogenesis-related proteins Rbe1p and Rbt4p in Candida albicans

PLoS One. 2018 Aug 6;13(8):e0201932. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201932. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Yannick Bantel¹, Rabih Darwiche², Steffen Rupp³, Roger Schneiter⁴, Kai Sohn³

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Interfacial Process Engineering and Plasma Technology, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany.
² Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
³ Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Fraunhofer IGB, Stuttgart, Germany.
⁴ Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.

Abstract

Members of the Cysteine-rich secretory protein, Antigen 5 and Pathogenesis-related 1 (CAP) protein superfamily are important virulence factors in fungi but remain poorly characterized on molecular level. Here, we investigate the cellular localization and molecular function of Rbe1p and Rbt4p, two CAP family members from the human pathogen Candida albicans. We unexpectedly found that Rbe1p localizes to budding sites of yeast cells in a disulfide bond-dependent manner. Furthermore, we show that Rbe1p and Rbt4p bind free cholesterol in vitro and export cholesteryl acetate in vivo. These findings suggest a previously undescribed role for Rbe1p in cell wall-associated processes and a possible connection between the virulence attributes of fungal CAP proteins and sterol binding.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Amino Acid Sequence
Binding Sites
Biological Transport
Candida albicans / physiology*
Candidiasis / microbiology*
Cholesterol / chemistry
Cholesterol / metabolism
Fungal Proteins / chemistry
Fungal Proteins / genetics
Fungal Proteins / metabolism*
Humans
Models, Molecular
Molecular Conformation
Protein Binding
Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs
Protein Transport
Sterols / chemistry
Sterols / metabolism
Structure-Activity Relationship
Virulence

Substances

Fungal Proteins
Sterols
Cholesterol

Grants and funding

Funded by Landesgraduierten Förderung Universität Stuttgart and the Swiss National Science Foundation (31003A_173003, and 31003A_153416). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.