Emerging roles of inositol pyrophosphates as key modulators of fungal pathogenicityopen access
- Authors
- Kang, Hyun Ah
- Issue Date
- Feb-2018
- Publisher
- TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC
- Keywords
- Cryptococcus neoformans; Fungal infection; Inositol pyrophosphates; Pathogenicity
- Citation
- VIRULENCE, v.9, no.1, pp 563 - 565
- Pages
- 3
- Journal Title
- VIRULENCE
- Volume
- 9
- Number
- 1
- Start Page
- 563
- End Page
- 565
- URI
- https://scholarworks.bwise.kr/cau/handle/2019.sw.cau/56336
- DOI
- 10.1080/21505594.2017.1421832
- ISSN
- 2150-5594
2150-5608
- Abstract
- Inositol pyrophosphates (PP-IPs) are energy-rich small molecules that are omnipresent in eukaryotic cells, from yeast to mammals, playing central roles in overall cellular homeostasis as a diverse and multifaceted class of intracellular messengers. Recent studies of the metabolic pathways and physiological roles of PP-IPs in the human pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans have revealed that the PP-IP5 (IP7) is a key metabolite essential for fungal metabolic adaptation to the host environment, immune recognition, and pathogenicity. This suggests the PP-IP biosynthesis pathway, comprising phospholipase C1 (Plc1) and a series of sequentially acting inositol polyphosphate kinases (IPKs), as a new virulence-related signaling pathway in C. neoformans. Given that fungal species have a reduced array of the kinases required for the synthesis of PP-IPs and that the homology between human and fungal IPKs is restricted to a few catalytically important residues, identification of IPK inhibitors specifically targeting the kinases of pathogenic fungi has emerged as a desirable and achievable strategy for antifungal drug development.
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