METTL9 tests Candida's mettle by limiting metal acquisition

Raminder Singh; Manuela Raffatellu

doi:10.1016/j.chom.2025.12.010

METTL9 tests Candida's mettle by limiting metal acquisition

Cell Host Microbe. 2026 Jan 14;34(1):9-11. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2025.12.010.

Authors

Raminder Singh¹, Manuela Raffatellu²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Host-Microbe Systems and Therapeutics, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
² Division of Host-Microbe Systems and Therapeutics, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Chiba University-UC San Diego Center for Mucosal Immunology, Allergy, and Vaccines (CU-UCSD cMAV), La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. Electronic address: manuelar@ucsd.edu.

PMID: 41539299
DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2025.12.010

Abstract

The gut mucosal immune system orchestrates diverse defense mechanisms against fungal pathogens. In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Bao and Yang et al.¹ demonstrate that intestinal epithelial cells secrete an anti-zincophore protein, METTL9, that limits fungal access to the essential micronutrient zinc, thereby diminishing colonization and growth.

MeSH terms

Candida albicans* / growth & development
Candida albicans* / metabolism
Candida* / growth & development
Candida* / metabolism
Epithelial Cells / metabolism
Epithelial Cells / microbiology
Humans
Intestinal Mucosa / immunology
Intestinal Mucosa / metabolism
Intestinal Mucosa / microbiology
Metals* / metabolism
Zinc* / metabolism

Substances

Zinc
Metals