Lactic Acid Influences Iron Assimilation by a Fungal Pathogen via the Iron Reductive Uptake Pathway
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: ABSTRACT Candida albicans is a fungal commensal of humans that often causes mucosal infections in otherwise healthy individuals and also serious infections in immunocompromised patients. The capacity of this fungus to colonize and cause disease relies on its ability to grow within the host, adapting to various nutrient restrictions and physicochemical conditions. The presence of alternative carbon sources, such as the lactate produced by the local microbiota, influences C. albicans antifungal drug resistance and immune evasion. In this study, we used genome‐wide transcriptomic analysis to investigate the effect of lactate exposure upon metabolic rewiring. We provide evidence that C. albicans cells respond to growth in the presence of lactate at pH 5 by regulating genes encoding micronutrient transporters, notably iron transporters. More specifically, lactate triggers the downregulation of genes on the reductive iron uptake pathway, inferring a diminished requirement for high‐affinity iron uptake. This is supported by the observation that lactate promotes the intracellular accumulation of iron by C. albicans cells. Lactate even enhances the growth of iron‐transport defective C. albicans cells under iron‐limited conditions. Lactate is known to activate protein kinase A (PKA) signaling. However, lactate‐induced iron assimilation is PKA‐independent. This study provides new insights into the role of lactate in iron homeostasis—two important factors that promote C. albicans virulence in the mammalian host, where nutritional immunity is a key antimicrobial strategy.
Source: MicrobiologyOpen
DOI: 10.1002/mbo3.70167
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,540
Funders: Wellcome Trust, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, China Building Materials Academy, National Institute for Health and Care Research, Department of Health and Social Care, University of Exeter, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, KU Leuven, Onderzoeksraad, KU Leuven, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Universidade do Minho, Vlaamse regering, Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology, Medical Research Council, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Awards: G1115001388, G1245367212, G1276714150, G1620553015, G1666550810, CENTRO DE BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR E AMBIENTAL, MRC Centre for Medical Mycology, G2786238553, Rede de Infraestruturas em Investigação Aquática, G2869644693, G2943679781, G298144591, Accelerating genetic research in Exeter with the Illumina NovaSeq 6000 DNA Sequencing System, G4194340247, G464105488, G4765415665, Metabolic Induced Regulation in Candida albicans pathogenesis: the role of carboxylic acids and carboxylate transporters, G5088090540, IMPACT OF FUNGAL ADAPTATION UPON HOST RECOGNITION AND PATHOGENESIS, G6101393579, G6375946528, MetaFungal-Metabolismo de ácidos carboxílicos em Infeções Fúngicas, From ‘molecular pattern’ to ligand structure and function – the origins of antifungal immunity, G669361101, G6731524417, G6997658380, G7019188772, G743793027, Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology, G8310141513, G8503805535, G8594743756, G8708218670, G8809137387, Investigation of the underlying mechanism by which the PKA and calcineurin pathway regulate stress tolerance in the human fungal pathogen Candida glabrata
OpenAlex ID: W4417427047