Open AccessMetabolism of Gluconeogenic Substrates by an Intracellular Fungal Pathogen Circumvents Nutritional Limitations within Macrophages
Author(s) -
Qian Shen,
Stephanie C. Ray,
Heather M. Evans,
George S. Deepe,
Chad A. Rappleye
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
mbio
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.562
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 2161-2129
pISSN - 2150-7511
DOI - 10.1128/mbio.02712-19
Subject(s) - histoplasma , phagosome , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , intracellular parasite , macrophage , biochemistry , intracellular , histoplasmosis , in vitro , immunology , histoplasma capsulatum
Histoplasma is a primary human fungal pathogen that survives and proliferates within host immune cells, particularly within the macrophage phagosome compartment. The phagosome compartment is a nutrient-limited environment, requiring Histoplasma yeasts to be able to assimilate available carbon sources within the phagosome to meet their nutritional needs. In this study, we showed that Histoplasma yeasts do not utilize fatty acids or hexoses for growth within macrophages. Instead, Histoplasma yeasts consume gluconeogenic substrates to proliferate in macrophages. These findings reveal the phagosome composition from a nutrient standpoint and highlight essential metabolic pathways that are required for a phagosomal pathogen to proliferate in this intracellular environment.