Abstract
Although morphological transitions (such as hyphae and pseudohyphae formation) are a common feature among fungi, the encapsulated pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans is found during infection as blastoconidia. However, this fungus exhibits striking variations in cellular structure and size, which have important consequences during infection. This review will summarize the main aspects related with phenotypic and morphological variations in C. neoformans, which can be divided in three classes. Two of them are related to changes in the capsule, while the third one involves changes in the whole cell. The three morphological and phenotypic variations in C. neoformans can be classified as: (1) changes in capsule structure, (2) changes in capsule size, and (3) changes in the total size of the cell, which can be achieved by the formation of cryptococcal giant/titan cells or microforms. These changes have profound consequences on the interaction with the host, involving survival, phagocytosis escape and immune evasion and dissemination. This article will summarize the main features of these changes, and highlight their importance during the interaction with the host and how they contribute to the development of the disease.
Highlights
Adaptation of pathogenic fungi to the host environment is key to understanding the diseases caused by these microorganisms
Adaptive responses are triggered to evade the immune response and survive in the host. Most of these responses are regulated by signaling pathways, which induce adaptation to the host nutritional environment, pH and osmotic pressure, and provide resistance to free radicals and antimicrobial molecules
Other fungi exhibit dimorphism regulated by the temperature, as happens with Histoplasma capsulatum and Blastomyces dermatitidis (Kane, 1984; Maresca and Kobayashi, 1989). These changes are important for the course of infection, and provide the fungus a mechanism to reach new nutritional environments, evade the host immune response, and disseminate through the organism
Summary
Mycology Reference Laboratory, National Centre for Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain. Morphological transitions (such as hyphae and pseudohyphae formation) are a common feature among fungi, the encapsulated pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans is found during infection as blastoconidia This fungus exhibits striking variations in cellular structure and size, which have important consequences during infection. The three morphological and phenotypic variations in C. neoformans can be classified as: (1) changes in capsule structure, (2) changes in capsule size, and (3) changes in the total size of the cell, which can be achieved by the formation of cryptococcal giant/titan cells or microforms These changes have profound consequences on the interaction with the host, involving survival, phagocytosis escape and immune evasion and dissemination.
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