The Candida albicans ELMO homologue functions together with Rac1 and Dck1, upstream of the MAP Kinase Cek1, in invasive filamentous growth.

Regulation of Rho G-proteins is critical for cytoskeletal organization and cell morphology in all eukaryotes. In the human opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans, Rac1 and its activator Dck1, a member of the CED5, Dock180, myoblast city family of guanine nucleotide exchange factors, are required for the budding to filamentous transition during invasive growth. We show that Lmo1, a protein with similarity to human ELMO1, is necessary for invasive filamentous growth, similar to Rac1 and Dck1. Furthermore, Rac1, Dck1 and Lmo1 are required for cell wall integrity, as the deletion mutants are sensitive to cell wall perturbing agents, but not to oxidative or osmotic stresses. The region of Lmo1 encompassing the ELMO and PH-like domains is sufficient for its function. Both Rac1 and Dck1 can bind Lmo1. Overexpression of a number of protein kinases in the rac1, dck1 and lmo1 deletion mutants indicates that Rac1, Dck1 and Lmo1 function upstream of the mitogen-activated protein kinases Cek1 and Mkc1, linking invasive filamentous growth to cell wall integrity. We conclude that the requirement of ELMO/CED12 family members for Rac1 function is conserved from fungi to humans.

Arachidonate and NADPH oxidase synergise with iNOS to induce death in macrophages: mechanisms of inflammatory degeneration.

Inflammation contributes to many pathologies, but the mechanisms by which inflammation induces cell death are unclear. We investigated interactions between inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), phagocytic NADPH oxidase (PHOX) and arachidonate in inducing cell death in a J774 macrophage cell line. Little or no cell death was induced by: (i) induction of iNOS with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interferon-gamma (INFgamma), (ii) activation of PHOX with phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA), or (iii) addition of arachidonate. However, when iNOS activation was combined with PHOX activation by PMA or with arachidonate, there was extensive necrotic death of macrophages. In both cases death was accompanied by peroxynitrite production, and was blocked by removal of peroxynitrite (by FeTPPS), removal of superoxide (by superoxide dismutase), inhibition of iNOS (by 1400W) or inhibition of PARP (by IsoQ or DPQ). However, when iNOS induction was combined with PMA, death was blocked by a PHOX inhibitor (apocynin). Whereas when iNOS induction was combined with arachidonate, death was not blocked by apocynin, but was blocked by a cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitor (ibuprofen), suggesting that the source of superoxide contributing to cell death differs in these two conditions.

Activation of Rac1 by the guanine nucleotide exchange factor Dck1 is required for invasive filamentous growth in the pathogen Candida albicans.

Rho G proteins and their regulators are critical for cytoskeleton organization and cell morphology in all eukaryotes. In the opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans, the Rho G proteins Cdc42 and Rac1 are required for the switch from budding to filamentous growth in response to different stimuli. We show that Dck1, a protein with homology to the Ced-5, Dock180, myoblast city family of guanine nucleotide exchange factors, is necessary for filamentous growth in solid media, similar to Rac1. Our results indicate that Dck1 and Rac1 do not function in the same pathway as the transcription factor Czf1, which is also required for embedded filamentous growth. The conserved catalytic region of Dck1 is required for such filamentous growth, and in vitro this region directly binds a Rac1 mutant, which mimics the nucleotide-free state. In vivo overexpression of a constitutively active Rac1 mutant, but not wild-type Rac1, in a dck1 deletion mutant restores filamentous growth. These results indicate that the Dock180 guanine nucleotide exchange factor homologue, Dck1 activates Rac1 during invasive filamentous growth. We conclude that specific exchange factors, together with the G proteins they activate, are required for morphological changes in response to different stimuli.