Open Access

ARTICLE

Both viable and killed Candida albicans cells induce in vitro production of TNF-α and IFN-γ in murine cells through a TLR2-dependent signalling

Celia Murciano, Alberto Yánez, M. Luisa Gil, Daniel Gozalbo

Departament de Microbiologia i Ecologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de València, Avgda. Vicent Andrés Estellés s/n, 46100 Burjassot, Spain

* Corresponding Author: D. Gozalbo,

European Cytokine Network 2007, 18(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1684/ecn.2007.0085

Abstract

The in vitro production of TNF-α and IFN-γ in response to Candida albicans was investigated in wild-type, TLR2-/- and TLR4-/- murine cells. TLR2-/- resident peritoneal macrophages showed a strong impairment of TNF-a production in response to viable and non-viable (heat-killed, antimycotic-treated and formaldehyde-fixed) yeasts and hyphae (germ tube-bearing cells) of the high virulence C. albicans ATCC 26555 strain, as compared with macrophages from wild-type and TLR4-/- mice. The in vitro production of IFN-γ was investigated in murine splenocytes obtained three days after intravenous injection with the low virulence, non-germinative C. albicans PCA2 strain, and again, TLR2-/- splenocytes showed a strong impairment of the in vitro production of IFN-γ in response to non-viable (heat-killed, antimycotic-treated and formaldehyde-fixed) C. albicans ATCC 26555 yeasts, as compared with splenocytes of TLR4-/- and wild type mice. These results indicate that the TLR2-mediated recognition of C. albicans leading to a proinflammatory Th1 host response appears to be well conserved in killed C. albicans cells, regardless of the inactivating treatment employed.

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