Vesicular Transport in Histoplasma Capsulatum: an Effective Mechanism for Trans-Cell Wall Transfer of Proteins and Lipids in Ascomycetes
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Cellular Microbiology (2008) 10(8), 1695–1710 doi:10.1111/j.1462-5822.2008.01160.x First published online 5 May 2008 Vesicular transport in Histoplasma capsulatum: an effective mechanism for trans-cell wall transfer of proteins and lipids in ascomycetes Priscila Costa Albuquerque,1,2,3 by additional ascomycetes. The vesicles from H. cap- Ernesto S. Nakayasu,4 Marcio L. Rodrigues,5 sulatum react with immune serum from patients Susana Frases,2 Arturo Casadevall,2,3 with histoplasmosis, providing an association of the Rosely M. Zancope-Oliveira,1 Igor C. Almeida4 and vesicular products with pathogenesis. The findings Joshua D. Nosanchuk2,3* support the proposal that vesicular secretion is a 1Instituto de Pesquisa Clinica Evandro Chagas, general mechanism in fungi for the transport of Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, RJ Brazil. macromolecules related to virulence and that this 2Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Division process could be a target for novel therapeutics. of Infectious Diseases, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, New York, NY, USA. Introduction 3Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, New York, NY, USA. Histoplasma capsulatum, a dimorphic fungus of the 4Department of Biological Sciences, The Border phylum Ascomycota, is a major human pathogen with Biomedical Research Center, University of Texas at El a worldwide distribution (Kauffman, 2007). The fungus Paso, El Paso, TX, USA. usually causes a mild, often asymptomatic, respiratory 5Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Góes, illness, but infection may progress to life-threatening sys- Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, RJ Brazil. temic disease, particularly in immunocompromised indi- viduals, infants or the elderly. H. capsulatum grows as a saprophytic mould in the environment, but undergoes Summary phase transition to a yeast form at mammalian physi- Vesicular secretion of macromolecules has recently ological temperatures. Within macrophages, H. capsula- been described in the basidiomycete Cryptococcus tum modifies its micro-environment over a broad pH neoformans, raising the question as to whether range, survives nutrient starvation, resists reactive ascomycetes similarly utilize vesicles for transport. oxygen and nitrogen species, and survives exposure to In the present study, we examine whether the clini- degradative enzymes (Woods, 2002). In the yeast form, cally important ascomycete Histoplasma capsulatum several important exoantigens have been described, produce vesicles and utilized these structures to including the H and M antigens, pluripotent glycoproteins secrete macromolecules. Transmission electron that elicit both humoral and T cell-mediated immune microscopy (TEM) shows transcellular secretion of responses (Zancope-Oliveira et al., 1999; Fisher and vesicles by yeast cells. Proteomic and lipidomic Woods, 2000; Deepe and Gibbons, 2001a), and a analyses of vesicles isolated from culture super- virulence-related, phase-specific protein (YPS3p), which natants reveal a rich collection of macromolecules is found at the cell wall (Bohse and Woods, 2005; 2007). involved in diverse processes, including metabolism, Yeast cells secrete a calcium-binding protein that cell recycling, signalling and virulence. The results enables the fungus to grow in calcium-limiting conditions demonstrate that H. capsulatum can utilize a trans- (Sebghati et al., 2000). Heat-shock proteins are also pro- cell wall vesicular transport secretory mechanism to duced at a high level, which is consistent with the ther- promote virulence. Additionally, TEM of supernatants mally dimorphic nature of the organism (Burnie et al., collected from Candida albicans, Candida parapsilo- 2006). sis, Sporothrix schenckii and Saccharomyces cerevi- In contrast to prokaryotic organisms, secretory path- siae documents that vesicles are similarly produced ways in eukaryotic cells involve vesicular traffic of molecules to the plasma membrane (Ponnambalam and Baldwin, 2003; van Meer and Sprong, 2004). Fungal cells Received 29 February, 2008; revised 4 April, 2008; accepted 7 April, 2008. *For correspondence. E-mail [email protected]; Tel. have complex cell walls and are therefore expected to (+1) 718 430 3659; Fax (+1) 718 430 8701. require additional mechanisms to transfer periplasmic © 2008 The Authors Journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 1696 P. C. Albuquerque et al. components from the plasma membrane to the extracel- lular space. The mechanisms by which macromolecules reach the extracellular environment and how they are transported through the cell wall, however, have not been rigorously explored in fungi. It has been recently described that the yeast-like pathogen Cryptococcus neo- formans produces secretory vesicles that transport its major capsular polysaccharide to the extracellular space (Yoneda and Doering, 2006; Rodrigues et al., 2007; 2008). The polysaccharide is synthesized intracellularly (Feldmesser et al., 2001; Garcia-Rivera et al., 2004) and packaged into lipid vesicles, which cross the cell wall and the capsule network by still unknown mechanisms to reach the extracellular environment. At the extracellular space, the polysaccharide is released and presumably used for capsule assembly (Rodrigues et al., 2007). Furthermore, bioactive fungal lipids, including glucosyl- ceramides and sterols, are secreted by C. neoformans vesicles (Rodrigues et al., 2007). It remains unknown whether other pathogenic fungal species use the same mechanism to secrete extracellular molecules. In the present study, we demonstrate that the parasitic yeast stage of H. capsulatum produces heterogeneous vesicles that are secreted extracellularly. A considerable variety of molecules, including phospholipids and proteins Fig. 1. TEM of extracellular vesicles obtained by ultracentrifugation associated to stress responses, pathogenesis, cell wall of culture supernatants from H. capsulatum showing bilayered membranes and different profiles of electron density. Bars, 100 nm architecture and virulence, comprise the H. capsulatum (B, C and E) and 200 nm (A, D and F). vesicles. Furthermore, we analysed whether additional ascomycetes, including Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis, Sporothrix schenckii and Saccharomyces (Fig. 1). The protocol used for the isolation of H. capsula- cerevisiae, produced vesicles. Finally, proteins extracted tum extracellular vesicles was based on that used for C. from H. capsulatum vesicles reacted with immune sera neoformans (Rodrigues et al., 2007), in which organelles from patients with histoplasmosis suggesting that the from dead cells were not found. Similarly, organelles were vesicles are involved in host–pathogen interactions. not found in culture supernatants of heat-killed H. capsu- These results show that vesicular secretion is a common latum yeast cells examined by TEM (data not shown). mechanism of extracellular delivery in fungi. Notably, we identified vesicular structures in internal and outer regions of the cell wall, as well as in the extracellular environment (Fig. 3), which is in accordance with the pro- Results posal that vesicle secretion is an active mechanism in living H. capsulatum cells. Vesicles were identified in Histoplasma capsulatum produces extracellular vesicles and adjacent to the cell walls of all yeast cells analysed Extracellular vesicles were obtained from H. capsulatum (n = 200), indicating that this is a pervasive process. yeast. Using our growth conditions, H. capsulatum is in exponential phase growth for the first 72–76 h. At the time Membrane phospholipids are present in vesicular of collection, the yeast cells were > 99% viable by pro- lipid extracts pidium iodine staining, which makes the possibility of the vesicles arising from dead or dying cells exceedingly Lipids were fractioned and analysed by electrospray unlikely. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of the ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), in negative- or material recovered by ultracentrifugation of supernatants positive-ion mode. The regions of the spectra in which from H. capsulatum revealed the presence of bilayered, molecular masses corresponding to phospholipids were spherical vesicles (Fig. 1). Five hundred and eight expected are presented in Fig. 4. The major peaks vesicles were analysed and were found to range in size observed in both spectra were subjected to MS/MS analy- from 10 to 350 nm (Fig. 2). The electron density of the sis (Fig. S1), resulting in the identification of 17 different vesicles varied considerably, suggesting distinct contents phospholipids (Table 1). In the negative-ion mode analy- © 2008 The Authors Journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Cellular Microbiology, 10, 1695–1710 Extracellular vesicular transport in ascomycetes 1697 Fig. 2. Size analysis of vesicles from H. capsulatum. Five hundred and eight vesicles were analysed and the size ranged from 10 to 350 nm. Fig. 3. Vesicular structures were observed in association with the cell wall (A, C and D) and the extracellular environment (B). sis, only phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) species were corresponding to ethanolamine phosphate (EtNP) and detected as major phospholipid species (Fig. 4, Table 1). dehydrated glyceroethanolaminephosphate (GroEtNP/ As shown in the Fig. S1A–E, diagnostic ions for PE were H2O) respectively. Fragment ions corresponding to the found at m/z (mass to charge ratio) 140.1 and 196.1, carboxylate ions of the acyl chains were also detected. On Table 1. Lipid analysis and composition