Abstract

Candidacidal factors in murine bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. K M Nugent and R B Fick Jr ABSTRACT Respiratory secretions provide an efficient method for protecting the large surface area of the lower respiratory tract. To determine whether lung secretions contribute to antifungal defenses, we tested bronchoalveolar lavage fluid for fungicidal activity. Candida albicans (blastoconidia) was incubated in unconcentrated cell-free lavage fluid from Swiss Webster mice and then cultured quantitatively to measure residual viability. In control buffer the residual fractions of viable fungi were 1.03 +/- 0.12 at 60 min and 0.84 +/- 0.05 at 120 min, whereas the residual fractions in lavage fluid were 0.64 +/- 0.07 and 0.23 +/- 0.05, respectively (P less than 0.05 by t tests). This activity was trypsin sensitive and heat stable (56 degrees C) and did not require divalent cations. It did not sediment with the surfactant fraction of lung lavage fluid. Unconcentrated lavage fluid reduced the adherence of C. albicans to serum-coated glass tubes to 2.3 +/- 1.5% of that of control Candida suspensions (n = 5, P less than 0.05 by t test). It did not alter Candida ingestion or intracellular processing by alveolar macrophages. Lavage fluid also killed clinical isolates of Candida tropicalis and Torulopsis glabrata but did not kill Candida krusei or Candida parapsilosis. Lavage fluid was concentrated and passed through an acrylamide-agarose gel matrix. The chromatogram indicated that the candidacidal activity eluted in a peak with a molecular weight range of 29,000 to 40,000. After electrophoresis on 15% sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels, these fractions resolved into three bands. These were transferred to nitrocellulose and then eluted with Triton X-100; this procedure permitted the isolation of a single band of candidacidal activity with a molecular weight of 29,000. In summary, murine lavage fluid contains a heat-stable protein with direct antifungal activity. This soluble factor may contribute to lung defense processes by reducing fungal viability and adherence to tissue surfaces. CiteULike Connotea Delicious Digg Facebook Google+ Mendeley Reddit StumbleUpon Twitter What's this? « Previous | Next Article » Table of Contents This Article Infect. Immun. March 1987 vol. 55 no. 3 541-546 » Abstract PDF Classifications Research Article Services Email this article to a colleague Similar articles in ASM journals Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of IAI Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Load citing article information Citing articles via Web of Science Citing articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Nugent, K. M. Articles by Fick, R. B. Search for related content PubMed PubMed citation Articles by Nugent, K. M. Articles by Fick, R. B. Related Content Load related web page information Social Bookmarking CiteULike Connotea Delicious Digg Facebook Google+ Mendeley Reddit StumbleUpon Twitter What's this? current issue December 2011, volume 79, issue 12 Spotlights in the Current Issue Face-to-Face: Mapping Host-Pathogen Interactions Chronological Aging Affects Virulence Factor Expression Toll-like Receptor 9 Modulates Macrophage Antifungal Effector Function during Innate Recognition of Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae Specific Fimbrial Profiles in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli Predict Virulence Alert me to new issues of IAI About IAI Subscribers Authors Reviewers Advertisers Inquiries from the Press Permissions & Commercial Reprints ASM Journals Public Access Policy IAI RSS Feeds 1752 N Street N.W. • Washington DC 20036 202.737.3600 • 202.942.9355 fax • journals@asmusa.org Print ISSN: 0019-9567 Online ISSN: 1098-5522 Copyright © 2011 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to IAI .asm.org, visit: http://intl- IAI .asm.org | More Info» var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-5821458-8"); pageTracker._trackPageview();