Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.1.4.1 (phosphodiesterase)
 18,767 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Lethal circulatory shock during microbial sepsis is thought to be initiated by early molecular events, including production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and cytokine-mediated upregulation of neutrophil (PMN) function, irrespective of the causative organism. The phosphodiesterase inhibitor pentoxifylline (PTX) inhibits TNF gene transcription and modulates PMN function, and has been shown to improve outcome in experimental sepsis. We hypothesized that PTX would attenuate gram-negative and fungal septic shock by different mechanisms: reduced TNF production in Escherichia coli (EC) sepsis vs. enhanced PMN-mediated defense during Candida albicans (CA) fungemia. Conscious chronically catheterized rats received PTX (25 mg/kg, i.v.) before i.v. challenge with 10(10) viable EC (serotype 055:B5), 10(9) viable serotype A yeast-phase CA (each the LD100 in < 24 hr in naive rats), or normal sterile saline (NSS), and then PTX posttreatment (6.5 mg/hr x 4.5 hr). Treatment controls received NSS before and after challenge. Serum TNF peaked 1.5 hr after EC infection in NSS-treated animals (1654 +/- 390 U/ml, mean +/- SE), and was significantly reduced by PTX (120 +/- 32 U/ml, P < 0.01), but PTX did not improve 24 hr survival. PTX also aggravated systemic hypotension after EC, and did not modify neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, or microvascular permeability assessed by organ wet/dry weight (W/D) ratios. Peak serum TNF in CA + NSS animals (130 +/- 45 U/ml) was delayed 8 hr compared to EC animals, and were not reduced by PTX (67 +/- 25 U/ml, P = NS). Moreover, PTX did not alter CA-induced mortality, hypothermia, hypotension, neutropenia, increased lung W/D, or interstitial and alveolar hemorrhage. We conclude that PTX-induced suppression of endogenous TNF production does not prevent gram-negative shock in this model, possibly due to impaired TNF-mediated antibacterial host defense. Since fungal septic shock with acute disseminated candidiasis evolves prior to significant increases in circulating TNF, PTX also appears ineffective in its treatment.
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PMID:Effects of pentoxifylline on tumor necrosis factor production and survival during lethal E. coli sepsis vs. disseminated candidiasis with fungal septic shock. 848 22

Frequent interconversion between yeasts, pseudohyphae and true hyphae is a hallmark of Candida albicans growth in mammalian tissues. The requirement for transient CAP1-dependent pulses of cAMP for generating true hyphae, Hwp1 and virulence raises questions about the role of yeast and pseudohyphal forms in the pathogenesis of candidiasis. In this study, hyperfilamentous mutants, limited in their capacity to produce buds, were generated by disrupting the high-affinity phosphodiesterase gene PDE2. Degradation of cAMP by the PDE2 gene product was confirmed by higher basal cAMP levels in the pde2/pde2 mutant and by accumulation of cAMP to levels permitting germ tube formation upon disrupting PDE2 in the cap1/cap1 mutant. Similar phenotypes of the C. albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae pde2/pde2 mutants were found, including sensitivity to nutritional starvation and exogenous cAMP and defective entry into stationary phase. Importantly, the hyperfilamentous mutants were as avirulent as hypofilamentous mutants in a systemic model of candidiasis. Growth in a multiplicity of forms appears to be a virulence attribute that is controlled by tight coupling of cAMP synthesis and degradation. Delayed increases in PDE2 mRNA in cAMP-deficient cap1/cap1 mutants during germ tube-inducing conditions suggested a mechanism of control involving cAMP-dependent induction of PDE2 mRNA.
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PMID:Increased high-affinity phosphodiesterase PDE2 gene expression in germ tubes counteracts CAP1-dependent synthesis of cyclic AMP, limits hypha production and promotes virulence of Candida albicans. 1461 67

Candida albicans is an opportunistic human fungal pathogen that causes systemic candidiasis as well as superficial mucosal candidiasis. In response to the host environment, C. albicans transitions between yeast and hyphal forms. In particular, hyphal growth is important in facilitating adhesion and invasion of host tissues, concomitant with the expression of various hypha-specific virulence factors. In previous work, we showed that the cyclic AMP (cAMP) signaling pathway plays a crucial role in morphogenic transitions and virulence of C. albicans by studying genes encoding adenylate cyclase-associated protein (CAP1) and high-affinity phosphodiesterase (PDE2) (Y. S. Bahn, J. Staab, and P. Sundstrom, Mol. Microbiol. 50:391-409, 2003; and Y. S. Bahn and P. Sundstrom, J. Bacteriol. 183:3211-3223, 2001). However, little is known about the downstream targets of the cAMP signaling pathway that are responsible for morphological transitions and the expression of virulence factors. Here, microarrays were probed with RNA from strains with hypoactive (cap1/cap1 null mutant), hyperactive (pde2/pde2 null mutant), and wild-type cAMP signaling pathways to provide insight into the molecular mechanisms of virulence that are regulated by cAMP and that are related to the morphogenesis of C. albicans. Genes controlling metabolic specialization, cell wall structure, ergosterol/lipid biosynthesis, and stress responses were modulated by cAMP during hypha formation. Phenotypic traits predicted to be regulated by cAMP from the profiling results correlated with the relative strengths of the mutants when tested for resistance to azoles and subjected to heat shock stress and oxidative/nitrosative stress. The results from this study provide important insights into the role of the cAMP signaling pathway not only in morphogenic transitions of C. albicans but also for adaptation to stress and for survival during host infections.
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PMID:Genome-wide transcriptional profiling of the cyclic AMP-dependent signaling pathway during morphogenic transitions of Candida albicans. 1795 20