Open AccessInternalization of tenecin 3 by a fungal cellular process is essential for its fungicidal effect on Candida albicans
Author(s) -
Kim DaeHee,
Lee Dong Gun,
Kim Kil Lyong,
Lee Younghoon
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
european journal of biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1432-1033
pISSN - 0014-2956
DOI - 10.1046/j.1432-1327.2001.02364.x
Subject(s) - internalization , candida albicans , cytoplasm , biology , corpus albicans , microbiology and biotechnology , cell membrane , fluorescence microscope , antifungal drug , endocytosis , biophysics , biochemistry , membrane , cell , fluorescence , physics , quantum mechanics
Tenecin 3 is a glycine‐rich, antifungal protein of 78 residues isolated from the insect Tenebrio molitor larva. As an initial step towards understanding the antifungal mechanism of tenecin 3, we examined how this protein interacts with the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans to exert its antifungal action. Tenecin 3 did not induce the release of a fluorescent dye trapped in the artificial membrane vesicles and it did not perturb the membrane potential of C. albicans by the initial interaction. Fluorescence confocal microscopy and flow cytometric analysis revealed that tenecin 3 is rapidly internalized into the cytoplasmic space in energy‐dependent and temperature‐dependent manners. This internalization is also dependent on the ionic environment and cellular metabolic states. These results suggest that the internalization of tenecin 3 into the cytoplasm of C. albicans is mediated by a fungal cellular process. The internalized tenecin 3 is dispersed in the cytoplasm, and the loss of cell viability occurs after this internalization.