Differential effects of antifungal agents on expression of genes related to formation of Candida albicans biofilms. Issue 1 (23rd November 2015) - Chatzimoschou, Athanasios
Summary: The purpose of this study was to analyse specific molecular mechanisms involved in the intrinsic resistance of C. albicans biofilms to antifungals. We investigated the transcriptional profile of three genes ( BGL2, SUN41, ECE1 ) involved in Candida cell wall formation in response to voriconazole or anidulafungin after the production of intermediate and mature biofilms. C. albicans M61, a well‐documented biofilm producer strain, was used for the development of intermediate (12 h and 18 h) and completely mature biofilms (48 h). After exposure of cells from each biofilm growth mode to voriconazole (128 and 512 mg l −1 ) or anidulafungin (0.25 and 1 mg l −1 ) for 12–24 h, total RNA samples extracted from biofilm cells were analysed by RT‐PCR. The voriconazole and anidulafungin biofilm MIC was 512 and 0.5 mg l −1 respectively. Anidulafungin caused significant up‐regulation of SUN41 (3.7–9.3‐fold) and BGL2 (2.2–2.8 fold) in intermediately mature biofilms; whereas, voriconazole increased gene expression in completely mature biofilms ( SUN41 2.3‐fold, BGL2 2.1‐fold). Gene expression was primarily down‐regulated by voriconazole in intermediately, but not completely mature biofilms. Both antifungals caused down‐regulation of ECE1 in intermediately mature biofilms.