Abstract
Fungi are surrounded by an essential structure, the cell wall, which not only confers cell shape but also protects cells from environmental stress. As a consequence, yeast cells growing under cell wall damage conditions elicit rescue mechanisms to provide maintenance of cellular integrity and fungal survival. Through transcriptional reprogramming, yeast modulate the expression of genes important for cell wall biogenesis and remodeling, metabolism and energy generation, morphogenesis, signal transduction and stress. The yeast cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway, which is very well conserved in other fungi, is the key pathway for the regulation of this adaptive response. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of the yeast transcriptional program elicited to counterbalance cell wall stress situations, the role of the CWI pathway in the regulation of this program and the importance of the transcriptional input received by other pathways. Modulation of this adaptive response through the CWI pathway by positive and negative transcriptional feedbacks is also discussed. Since all these regulatory mechanisms are well conserved in pathogenic fungi, improving our knowledge about them will have an impact in the developing of new antifungal therapies.
Highlights
Fungi are surrounded by an essential structure, the cell wall, which confers cell shape and protects cells from environmental stress
Several signaling cascades has been involved in the regulation of cell wall stress responses, but the yeast cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway, governed by the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) Slt2, is key for this purpose [1]
This study revealed that constitutive activation of the CWI pathway, through the activation of the transcription factor Rlm1, induces the expression of approximately 25 genes, most of them related to cell wall biogenesis [40]
Summary
The cell wall is a very dynamic structure whose properties vary constantly to be adapted to different growth conditions. Several signaling cascades has been involved in the regulation of cell wall stress responses, but the yeast cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway, governed by the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) Slt, is key for this purpose [1]. This pathway is very well conserved in the fungal kingdom [46]. CWI signaling can be monitored quantifying the phosphorylation of Slt2 Those stress conditions mentioned above with a direct impact on cell wall integrity, including treatments with chemical agents or mutations affecting cell wall biogenesis induce CWI signaling. In some of these cases the mechanism by which Slt is activated is not completely understood
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