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Fungal Adhesin
Fungal adhesins are proteins located on the surface of fungal cells, specifically found on the outside of the cell wall. They allow fungi to colonize various substrates and to bind to host tissues. Adhesion to tissue is an obligatory first step in pathogenesis by many yeasts. Adhesins also have other functions, such as mating and biofilm formation. ''Candida albicans'' ''Candida albicans'' can cause opportunistic oral and genital infections in humans. Hwp1 Hwp1 is a fungal adhesin belonging to the opportunistic dimorphic fungus ''Candida albicans''. Hwp1 is unique among fungal adhesins discovered to date in that it is a mammalian transglutaminase substrate. The host enzyme allows ''C. albicans'' to form covalent bonds to the host tissue via Hwp1. See also *Adhesin molecule (immunoglobulin -like) *Bacterial adhesin Adhesins are cell-surface components or appendages of bacteria that facilitate adhesion or adherence to other cells or to surfaces, usually in the host they are infe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from the other eukaryotic kingdoms, which by one traditional classification include Plantae, Animalia, Protozoa, and Chromista. A characteristic that places fungi in a different kingdom from plants, bacteria, and some protists is chitin in their cell walls. Fungi, like animals, are heterotrophs; they acquire their food by absorbing dissolved molecules, typically by secreting digestive enzymes into their environment. Fungi do not photosynthesize. Growth is their means of mobility, except for spores (a few of which are flagellated), which may travel through the air or water. Fungi are the principal decomposers in ecological systems. These and other differences place fungi in a single group of related organisms, named the ''Eumycota'' (''t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cell Wall
A cell wall is a structural layer surrounding some types of cells, just outside the cell membrane. It can be tough, flexible, and sometimes rigid. It provides the cell with both structural support and protection, and also acts as a filtering mechanism. Cell walls are absent in many eukaryotes, including animals, but are present in some other ones like fungi, algae and plants, and in most prokaryotes (except mollicute bacteria). A major function is to act as pressure vessels, preventing over-expansion of the cell when water enters. The composition of cell walls varies between taxonomic group and species and may depend on cell type and developmental stage. The primary cell wall of land plants is composed of the polysaccharides cellulose, hemicelluloses and pectin. Often, other polymers such as lignin, suberin or cutin are anchored to or embedded in plant cell walls. Algae possess cell walls made of glycoproteins and polysaccharides such as carrageenan and agar that are absent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pathogenesis
Pathogenesis is the process by which a disease or disorder develops. It can include factors which contribute not only to the onset of the disease or disorder, but also to its progression and maintenance. The word comes from Greek πάθος ''pathos'' 'suffering, disease' and γένεσις ''genesis'' 'creation'. Description Types of pathogenesis include microbial infection, inflammation, malignancy and tissue breakdown. For example, bacterial pathogenesis is the process by which bacteria cause infectious illness. Most diseases are caused by multiple processes. For example, certain cancers arise from dysfunction of the immune system (skin tumors and lymphoma after a renal transplant, which requires immunosuppression), Streptococcus pneumoniae is spread through contact with respiratory secretions, such as saliva, mucus, or cough droplets from an infected person and colonizes the upper respiratory tract and begins to multiply. The pathogenic mechanisms of a disease (or cond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitute 1% of all described fungal species. Yeasts are unicellular organisms that evolved from multicellular ancestors, with some species having the ability to develop multicellular characteristics by forming strings of connected budding cells known as pseudohyphae or false hyphae. Yeast sizes vary greatly, depending on species and environment, typically measuring 3–4 µm in diameter, although some yeasts can grow to 40 µm in size. Most yeasts reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by the asymmetric division process known as budding. With their single-celled growth habit, yeasts can be contrasted with molds, which grow hyphae. Fungal species that can take both forms (depending on temperature or other conditions) are ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Candida Albicans
''Candida albicans'' is an opportunistic pathogenic yeast that is a common member of the human gut flora. It can also survive outside the human body. It is detected in the gastrointestinal tract and mouth in 40–60% of healthy adults. It is usually a commensal organism, but it can become pathogenic in immunocompromised individuals under a variety of conditions. It is one of the few species of the genus '' Candida'' that causes the human infection candidiasis, which results from an overgrowth of the fungus. Candidiasis is, for example, often observed in HIV-infected patients. ''C. albicans'' is the most common fungal species isolated from biofilms either formed on (permanent) implanted medical devices or on human tissue. ''C. albicans'', ''C. tropicalis'', ''C. parapsilosis'', and ''C. glabrata'' are together responsible for 50–90% of all cases of candidiasis in humans. A mortality rate of 40% has been reported for patients with systemic candidiasis due to ''C. albicans''. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hwp1
Hwp1 (Hyphal wall protein 1) is a protein (glycoprotein) located on the surface of an opportunistic diploid fungus called ''Candida albicans''. This "hyphal" denomination is due to Hwp1 appears exclusively on the surface of a projection called hyphae that emerges from the surface of this fungus. File:C albicans budding2.jpg, Candida Albicans Yeast forms (round-to-oval) File:C albicans germ tubes.jpg, Candida Albicans Hyphal forms (filamentous projections called hyphaes emerging from round-to-oval forms) Hwp1 is particularly important because it is a substrate of mammalian transglutaminase. This transglutaminase ability has two implications, one (in fungus pathogenicity) proved, and the other (in food proteins potential pathogenicity) hypothetical. Fungus pathogenicity Hwp1 has been proven to be involved in oral candidiasis. Candida albicans Hwp1 allows through the use of transglutaminase from the host (human beings, for example) to adhere to human epithelial cells with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adhesin Molecule (immunoglobulin -like)
In molecular biology, the adhesin molecule (immunoglobulin-like) is a protein domain. This domain is found in mucosal vascular addressin cell adhesion molecule 1 proteins (MAdCAM-1). These are cell adhesion molecules gene expression, expressed on the endothelium in mucosa that guide the specific homing of lymphocytes into mucosal tissue (biology), tissues. MAdCAM-1 belongs to a subclass of the antibody, immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF), the members of which are ligands for integrins. The crystal structure of this domain has been reported; it adopts an immunoglobulin-like beta-sandwich structure, with seven strands arranged in two beta-sheets in a Greek-key topology. See also *Bacterial adhesin *Cell adhesion *Fungal adhesin References {{InterPro content, IPR015169 Protein domains ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bacterial Adhesin
Adhesins are cell-surface components or appendages of bacteria that facilitate adhesion or adherence to other cells or to surfaces, usually in the host they are infecting or living in. Adhesins are a type of virulence factor. Adherence is an essential step in bacterial pathogenesis or infection, required for colonizing a new host. Adhesion and bacterial adhesins are also a potential target for prophylaxis or treatment of bacterial infections. Background Bacteria are typically found attached to and living in close association with surfaces. During the bacterial lifespan, a bacterium is subjected to frequent shear-forces. In the crudest sense, bacterial adhesins serve as anchors allowing bacteria to overcome these environmental shear forces, thus remaining in their desired environment. However, bacterial adhesins do not serve as a sort of universal bacterial Velcro. Rather, they act as specific surface recognition molecules, allowing the targeting of a particular bacterium to a part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cell Adhesion
Cell adhesion is the process by which cells interact and attach to neighbouring cells through specialised molecules of the cell surface. This process can occur either through direct contact between cell surfaces such as cell junctions or indirect interaction, where cells attach to surrounding extracellular matrix, a gel-like structure containing molecules released by cells into spaces between them. Cells adhesion occurs from the interactions between cell-adhesion molecules (CAMs), transmembrane proteins located on the cell surface. Cell adhesion links cells in different ways and can be involved in signal transduction for cells to detect and respond to changes in the surroundings. Other cellular processes regulated by cell adhesion include cell migration and tissue development in multicellular organisms. Alterations in cell adhesion can disrupt important cellular processes and lead to a variety of diseases, including cancer and arthritis. Cell adhesion is also essential for in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
