Person:
Wang, Yan

Profile Picture

Email Address

AA Acceptance Date

Birth Date

Research Projects

Organizational Units

Job Title

Last Name

Wang

First Name

Yan

Name

Wang, Yan
Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.9453354a-f19b-4ace-98a0-6f43e03739a2

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    The Role of Candida albicans SPT20 in Filamentation, Biofilm Formation and Pathogenesis
    (Public Library of Science, 2014) Tan, Xiaojiang; Fuchs, Beth Burgwyn; Wang, Yan; Chen, Weiping; J. Yuen, Grace; Chen, Rosalyn B.; Jayamani, Elamparithi; Anastassopoulou, Cleo; Pukkila-Worley, Read; Coleman, Jeffrey J.; Mylonakis, E
    Candida albicans is a ubiquitous fungus, which can cause very serious and sometimes life-threatening infections in susceptible patients. We used Caenorhabditis elegans as a model host to screen a library of C. albicans mutants for decreased virulence and identified SPT20 as important for virulence. The transcription co-activator SPT20 was identified originally as a suppressor of Ty and solo δ insertion mutations, which can cause transcription defects in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It is resistant to the toxicity caused by overexpression of GAL4-VP16. We constructed a C. albicans spt20Δ/Δ mutant and found the spt20Δ/Δ strain was significantly less virulent than the wild-type strain SC5314 in C. elegans (p < 0.0001), Galleria mellonella (p < 0.01) and mice (p < 0.001). Morphologically, spt20Δ/Δ mutant cells demonstrated a “snow-flake” shape and clustered together; prolonged culture times resulted in increased size of the cluster. The clustered morphology was associated with defects in nuclei distribution, as the nuclei were not observed in many cellular compartments. In addition, the C. albicans spt20Δ/Δ mutant resulted in defects in hyphae and biofilm formation (compared to the wild-type strain, p < 0.05), and sensitivity to cell wall and osmotic stressors, and to antifungal agents. Thus our study demonstrated a role of C. albicans SPT20 in overall morphology and distribution of nuclear material, which may cause the defects in filamentation and biofilm formation directly when this gene is deleted.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Selective photoinactivation of Candida albicans in the non-vertebrate host infection model Galleria mellonella
    (BioMed Central, 2013) Chibebe Junior, José; Sabino, Caetano P; Tan, Xiaojiang; Junqueira, Juliana C; Wang, Yan; Fuchs, Beth B; Jorge, Antonio OC; Tegos, George P; Hamblin, Michael; Mylonakis, E
    Background: Candida spp. are recognized as a primary agent of severe fungal infection in immunocompromised patients, and are the fourth most common cause of bloodstream infections. Our study explores treatment with photodynamic therapy (PDT) as an innovative antimicrobial technology that employs a nontoxic dye, termed a photosensitizer (PS), followed by irradiation with harmless visible light. After photoactivation, the PS produces either singlet oxygen or other reactive oxygen species (ROS) that primarily react with the pathogen cell wall, promoting permeabilization of the membrane and cell death. The emergence of antifungal-resistant Candida strains has motivated the study of antimicrobial PDT (aPDT) as an alternative treatment of these infections. We employed the invertebrate wax moth Galleria mellonella as an in vivo model to study the effects of aPDT against C. albicans infection. The effects of aPDT combined with conventional antifungal drugs were also evaluated in G. mellonella. Results: We verified that methylene blue-mediated aPDT prolonged the survival of C. albicans infected G. mellonella larvae. The fungal burden of G. mellonella hemolymph was reduced after aPDT in infected larvae. A fluconazole-resistant C. albicans strain was used to test the combination of aPDT and fluconazole. Administration of fluconazole either before or after exposing the larvae to aPDT significantly prolonged the survival of the larvae compared to either treatment alone. Conclusions: G. mellonella is a useful in vivo model to evaluate aPDT as a treatment regimen for Candida infections. The data suggests that combined aPDT and antifungal therapy could be an alternative approach to antifungal-resistant Candida strains.