Re: [LS] Identification of Yeast Mating Habits Opens New Doors to Candida Research

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>Reply-To: LichenSclerosisegroups

>To: LICHENSCLEROSISegroups

>Subject: [LS] Identification of Yeast Mating Habits Opens New Doors to

>Candida Research

>Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 20:09:07 GMT

>

>This seemed interesting to me in that I haven't seen it written that yeast

>causes much in the way of disease before. IN my experience I was just told

>that I probably had diabetes or I wouldn't have so many yeast infections.

>(I don't have diabetes.) I have a picture in an old anatomy book of an

>actual human heart with holes in it, supposedly a fungus infestation. Now,

>I

>would call that a disease! If a fungus can do that to a heart, one can

>imagine what it can do to fragile mucous membrane vulvar tissue or even

>nerve cells.

>

>Also I have wondered for some time about yeast and Molecular Mimicry Theory

>and if and how that might have something to do with LS.

>

>Food for thought.

>

> >

> >To: frijolescanyon@...

> >Subject: Re: [CO-CURE] RES: Identification of Yeast Mating Habits Opens

>New

> >Doors to Candida Research

> >Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 12:38:38 PDT

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >>

> >>Reply-To: Co-Cure-Mod@...

> >>To: CO-CURE@...

> >>Subject: [CO-CURE] RES: Identification of Yeast Mating Habits Opens New

> >> Doors to Candida Research

> >>Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 22:12:03 -0400

> >>

> >>[This may be of interest because of the reported connection of C.

>albicans

> >>to some cases of CFS.]

> >>

> >>NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

> >>

> >>National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

> >>

> >>NIH NEWS RELEASE

> >>

> >>EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE

> >>Thursday, July 13, 2000

> >>

> >>Sam Perdue

> >>

> >>sp189u@...

> >>

> >>

> >>IDENTIFICATION OF YEAST MATING HABITS OPENS NEW DOORS TO

> >>CANDIDA RESEARCH

> >>

> >>Studies of the reproductive behavior of a major disease-

> >>causing fungus have opened new avenues to understanding this

> >>potentially deadly microbe. In the current issue of

> >>Science, researchers from the University of Minnesota

> >>report the discovery of mating behavior in the yeast Candida

> >>albicans, an organism long thought to reproduce only by

> >>splitting itself in half. Their studies, supported by the

> >>National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

> >>(NIAID), provide new opportunities for scientists to better

> >>understand the diseases caused by this fungus.

> >>

> >> " C. albicans has been studied for over 100 years, but it has

> >>never revealed a sexual stage in its life cycle and has

> >>defied attempts to mate, " explains Dennis M. Dixon, chief of

> >>the Bacteriology and Mycology Branch of NIAID's Division of

> >>Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. " This work is

> >>extremely important because it begins to explain how the

> >>organism can adapt to changes in its environment and cause

> >>disease. "

> >>

> >>C. albicans, a common cause of thrush, can infect the skin,

> >>mucous membranes, and blood. In the latter case, the

> >>organism can invade multiple organ systems where it causes

> >>death in 30 to 50 percent of infected individuals. The

> >>fungus is particularly prevalent as a pathogen of the oral

> >>cavity and the female genital tract and as an opportunistic

> >>infection that strikes people with impaired immune systems.

> >>Existing anti-candida drugs are often highly toxic, and

> >>drug-resistant infections are becoming more common.

> >>

> >>Unlike baker's yeast, where the genetic systems and mating

> >>have been extensively analyzed in the laboratory, C.

> >>albicans has proven difficult to study until more recently.

> >>Baker's yeast can reproduce by mating, during which two

> >>single-celled parent yeasts fuse to produce a single

> >>organism with the combined genetic material of both parents.

> >>Because C. albicans has not previously been found to mate,

> >>however, scientists have had difficulty exchanging genetic

> >>information between different strains, thereby complicating

> >>research efforts. Now Beatrice B. Magee, M.S., and T.

> >>(Pete) Magee, Ph.D., are the first to produce mating strains

> >>of C. albicans. This discovery promises to accelerate

> >>research into the fungus and enable researchers to more

> >>quickly understand its biology and identify new drug

> >>targets. " There is no doubt that the identification of a

> >>sexual cycle will facilitate ongoing drug discovery programs

> >>and motivate pharmaceutical companies to begin new

> >>searches, " says Dr. Magee.

> >>

> >>Interest in C. albicans reproduction increased as scientists

> >>began to unravel the organism's genetic blueprint, a process

> >>that is nearing completion. Hull and

> >>, Ph.D., researchers at the University of California

> >>in San Francisco, analyzed this blueprint and isolated

> >>potential genes that resembled those controlling mating in

> >>the common baker's yeast. When the Magees removed one of

> >>these genes from a C. albicans strain, they paired the

> >>organism with a mate that contained the missing gene. Once

> >>the two strains met, they fused just like their baker's

> >>yeast cousins. Hull and accomplished the same feat

> >>independently.

> >>

> >>The finding has important implications beyond simplifying

> >>Candida research. " Scientists have shown that in another

> >>disease-causing fungus, Cryptococcus, one mating type is

> >>much more virulent than the other. If this is true for

> >>C. albicans it opens up a new approach to understanding how

> >>this microbe causes disease, " explains Dr. Magee. The

> >>researchers expect their discovery to accelerate studies on

> >>how the fungus adapts to different environments and

> >>how it evades the body's defense mechanisms.

> >>

> >>The Magee's studies also illustrate an important caveat of

> >>modern biomedical research, now rife with announcements of

> >>newly deciphered genetic blueprints. " Determining the

> >>sequence of the C. albicans genome was only one step in the

> >>process, " says Dr. Dixon. " The Magees have worked for years

> >>to painstakingly analyze the biology and genetics of

> >>Candida. When the C. albicans DNA sequence revealed a few

> >>hints about the organism's reproductive processes, the

> >>Magees were poised to investigate these clues and take a

> >>giant stride towards understanding an important human

> >>pathogen. Without their strong history of basic research,

> >>it is unlikely that this discovery would have been made. "

> >>

> >>NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health

> >>(NIH). NIAID conducts and supports research to prevent,

> >>diagnose, and treat illness such as HIV disease and other

> >>sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, malaria, asthma

> >>and allergies. NIH is an agency of the U.S. Department of

> >>Health and Human Services.

> >>

> >>Press releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related

> >>materials are available on the NIAID Web site at

> >>http://www.niaid.nih.gov .

> >>

> >>The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is

> >>a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S.

> >>Department of Health and Human Services.

> >>

> >>References:

> >>BB Magee and PT Magee. Induction of mating in Candida

> >>albicans by construction of MTLa and MTLa strains. Science

> >>2000;289:310-12.

> >>

> >>CM Hull, RM Raisner, and AD . Evidence for mating of

> >>the " asexual " yeast Candida albicans in a mammalian host.

> >>Science 2000;289:307-309.

> >>

> >> ---------------------------------------------

> >> Co-Cure is not a discussion list. Please do not reply to the list.

> >> Co-Cure Archives: http://listserv.nodak.edu/archives/co-cure.html

> >> Co-Cure Website: http://www.co-cure.org

> >> ---------------------------------------------

> >

>

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