THE COPPER INTERFERENCE WITH THE MELANOGENESIS OF Cryptococcus neoformans

Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo

Renan Marrichi Mauch¹  Vinícius De Oliveira Cunha¹  Amanda Latercia Tranches Dias¹ 

关键词: Cryptococcus neoformans;    Melanin;    Copper;    Virulence;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0036-46652013000200009

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Melanin is a pigment produced by laccase, a phenoloxydase enzyme, and is related to the virulence of Cryptococcus neoformans as it is also considered an adaption mechanism to environmental conditions and protection against UV radiation, phagocytic system attack and antifungal drugs. Laccase synthesis is stimulated by several factors, including copper metabolism. The current study shows C. neoformans strains with higher melanization intensity when grown in L-dopa medium supplemented with different concentrations of copper sulfate. This increase shows that melanization rates may be enhanced in the presence of copper ions and may also enhance the virulence of C. neoformans in infected patients that present increasing copper concentrations in serum, such as those with HIV. The virulence of these strains may also be increased in the environment, where this metal is available as CuSO4 in algicidal and fungicidal compounds.

【 授权许可】

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