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Genet Mol Res

Title:		Cell signaling pathways in Paracoccidioides brasiliensis--inferred from comparisons with other fungi
Author(s):		Fernandes L; Araujo MA; Amaral A; Reis VC; Martins NF; Felipe MS;
Address:		"Departamento de Biologia Celular, IB, Universidade de Brasilia, Brasilia, DF, Brazil"
Journal Title:		Genet Mol Res
Year:		2005
Volume:		20050630
Issue:		2
Page Number:		216 - 231
DOI:
ISSN/ISBN:		1676-5680 (Electronic) 1676-5680 (Linking)
Abstract:		"The human fungal pathogen Paracoccidioides brasiliensis is an ascomycete that displays a temperature-dependent dimorphic transition, appearing as a mycelium at 22 degrees C and as a yeast at 37 degrees C, this latter being the virulent form. We report on the in silico search made of the P. brasiliensis transcriptome-expressed sequence tag database for components of signaling pathways previously known to be involved in morphogenesis and virulence in other species of fungi, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Cryptococcus neoformans, Candida albicans, and Aspergillus fumigatus. Using this approach, it was possible to identify several protein cascades in P. brasiliensis, such as i) mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling for cell integrity, cell wall construction, pheromone/mating, and osmo-regulation, ii) the cAMP/PKA system, which regulates fungal development and virulence, iii) the Ras protein, which allows cross-talking between cascades, iv) calcium-calmodulin-calcineurin, which controls cell survival under oxidative stress, high temperature, and membrane/cell wall perturbation, and v) the target of rapamycin pathway, controlling cell growth and proliferation. The ways in which P. brasiliensis responds to the environment and modulates the expression of genes required for its survival and virulence can be inferred through comparison with other fungi for which this type of data is already available"
Keywords:		Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases/metabolism *Expressed Sequence Tags Fungal Proteins/*metabolism Fungi/cytology/metabolism/pathogenicity Humans Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism Osmosis/physiology Paracoccidioides/metabolism/pathogenicity/*;
Notes:		"MedlineFernandes, Larissa Araujo, Marcus A M Amaral, Andre Reis, Viviane Castelo Branco Martins, Natalia F Felipe, M S eng Comparative Study Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Brazil 2005/08/20 Genet Mol Res. 2005 Jun 30; 4(2):216-31"