Signal-mediated localization of Candida albicans pheromone response pathway components

A MAPK cascade consists of three kinases, (MEKK, MEK and MAPK), that are sequentially activated in response to a stimulus and serve to transmit signals. In C. albicans and in yeast, an MAPK cascade is linked to the pheromone pathway through a scaffold protein (Cst5 and Ste5, respectively). Cst5 is much shorter and lacks key domains compared to Ste5, so in C. albicans, other elements, in particular the MEKK Ste11, play key roles in controlling the associations and localizations of network components.