![]() ![]() "This work potentially contributes an important new piece of the puzzle regarding the development of Alzheimer's disease," Corry said. "If we take away this pathway, fungi are no longer effectively cleared in the brain." "Candidalysin-mediated activation of microglia is essential for clearance of Candida in the brain," Wu said. albicans also produces a protein called candidalysin that also binds to microglia via a different receptor, CD11b. "These peptides activate microglial brain cells via a cell surface receptor called Toll-like receptor 4, which keeps the fungi load low in the brain, but does not clear the infection."Ĭ. "The same Saps that the fungus uses to break the blood-brain barrier also break down the amyloid precursor protein into AB-like peptides," Wu said. In this study, they reported that this occurred thanks to two mechanisms triggered by the fungus in brain cells called microglia. albicans brain infection is fully resolved in otherwise healthy mice after 10 days. Next, the researchers asked, how is the fungus effectively cleared from the brain? Corry and his colleagues had previously shown that a C. Yifan Wu, postdoctoral scientist in pediatrics working in the Corry lab. albicans produces enzymes called secreted aspartic proteases (Saps) that breakdown the blood-brain barrier, giving the fungus access to the brain where it causes damage," said first author Dr. ![]() albicans enter the brain? We found that C. The current study extends that work to understand the molecular mechanisms." albicans does get into the brain where it produces changes that are very similar to what is seen in Alzheimer's disease. He also is a member of Baylor's Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center. ![]() David Corry, Fulbright Endowed Chair in Pathology and professor of pathology and immunology and medicine at Baylor. albicans and Alzheimer's disease in animal models," said corresponding author Dr. "Our lab has years of experience studying fungi, so we embarked on the study of the connection between C. The study appears in the journal Cell Reports. Working with animal models, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and collaborating institutions discovered how the fungus Candida albicans enters the brain, activates two separate mechanisms in brain cells that promote its clearance, and, important for the understanding of Alzheimer's disease development, generates amyloid beta (Ab)-like peptides, toxic protein fragments from the amyloid precursor protein that are considered to be at the center of the development of Alzheimer's disease. ![]()
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