Regulation of gliotoxin biosynthesis and protection in Aspergillus species.

Aspergillus fumigatus causes a range of human and animal diseases collectively known as aspergillosis. A. fumigatus possesses and expresses a range of genetic determinants of virulence, which facilitate colonisation and disease progression, including the secretion of mycotoxins. Gliotoxin (GT) is the best studied A. fumigatus mycotoxin with a wide range of known toxic effects that impair human immune cell function. GT is also highly toxic to A. fumigatus and this fungus has evolved self-protection mechanisms that include (i) the GT efflux pump GliA, (ii) the GT neutralising enzyme GliT, and (iii) the negative regulation of GT biosynthesis by the bis-thiomethyltransferase GtmA. The transcription factor (TF) RglT is the main regulator of GliT and this GT protection mechanism also occurs in the non-GT producing fungus A. nidulans. However, the A. nidulans genome does not encode GtmA and GliA. This work aimed at analysing the transcriptional response to exogenous GT in A. fumigatus and A. nidulans, two distantly related Aspergillus species, and to identify additional components required for GT protection. RNA-sequencing shows a highly different transcriptional response to exogenous GT with the RglT-dependent regulon also significantly differing between A. fumigatus and A. nidulans. However, we were able to observe homologs whose expression pattern was similar in both species (43 RglT-independent and 11 RglT-dependent). Based on this approach, we identified a novel RglT-dependent methyltranferase, MtrA, involved in GT protection. Taking into consideration the occurrence of RglT-independent modulated genes, we screened an A. fumigatus deletion library of 484 transcription factors (TFs) for sensitivity to GT and identified 15 TFs important for GT self-protection. Of these, the TF KojR, which is essential for kojic acid biosynthesis in Aspergillus oryzae, was also essential for virulence and GT biosynthesis in A. fumigatus, and for GT protection in A. fumigatus, A. nidulans, and A. oryzae. KojR regulates rglT, gliT, gliJ expression and sulfur metabolism in Aspergillus species. Together, this study identified conserved components required for GT protection in Aspergillus species.

The fungal metabolite gliotoxin inhibits proteasome proteolytic activity and induces an irreversible pseudocystic transformation and cell death in Tritrichomonas foetus.

Proteasomal proteolysis is required for a wide range of cellular processes, including protein quality control, cell cycle progression, cell death and metabolic adaptation to environment changes or stress responses. Proteasome inhibitors are useful compounds for determining the roles of proteasome in eukaryotic cells. Here, we investigated the effects of gliotoxin, a proteasome inhibitor, on the cell growth, replication, ultrastructure, DNA integrity and proteasomal proteolytic activity of the protist parasite Tritrichomonas foetus. The effect of gliotoxin on the transformation of T. foetus to endoflagellar form (EFF), also known as pseudocyst, was investigated. Gliotoxin inhibited the culture growth, arrested cell cycle, and provoked a trichomonacidal effect in a dose-dependent manner. Parasites treated with gliotoxin displayed features typical of cell death, such as membrane blebbing, concentric membrane whorls containing remnants of organelles, intense cytosolic and nuclear vacuolisation, chromatin condensation, DNA fragmentation, cytoplasmic disintegration and plasma membrane disruption. The proteasomal peptidase activity was inhibited by gliotoxin in a dose-dependent manner. Gliotoxin treatment also induced an irreversible EFF transformation in a dose/time-dependent manner. We compared morphological characteristics between gliotoxin- and cold-induced EFF parasites. Our results suggest that gliotoxin could induce EFF transformation by a mechanism distinct from that provoked by cold temperature. This study further contributes to a better understanding of the role of proteasome system in cell cycle, cell death and EFF transformation in T. foetus.

Bioprospection of cytotoxic compounds in fungal strains recovered from sediments of the Brazilian coast.

The cytotoxic activities of extracts (50 µg/ml) from 48 fungal strains, recovered from sediments of Pecém's offshore port terminal (Northeast coast of Brazil), against HCT-116 colon cancer cell lines were investigated. The most promising extract was obtained from strain BRF082, identified as Dichotomomyces cejpii by phylogenetic analyses of partial RPB2 gene sequence. Thus, it was selected for bioassay-guided isolation of the cytotoxic compounds. Large-scale fermentation of BRF082 in potato dextrose broth, followed by chromatographic purification of the bioactive fractions from the liquid medium, yielded gliotoxin (4) and its derivatives acetylgliotoxin G (3), bis(dethio)bis(methylsulfanyl)gliotoxin (1), acetylgliotoxin (5), 6-acetylbis(dethio)bis(methylsulfanyl)gliotoxin (2), besides the quinazolinone alkaloid fiscalin B. All isolated compounds were tested for their cytotoxicities against the tumor cell lines HCT-116, revealing 4 and 3 as the most cytotoxic ones (IC50 0.41 and 1.06 µg/ml, resp.).