glabrata. These proteins provide these organisms with a variety of adherence properties, such

as their interactions with other cells (during mating) and with abiotic surfaces and host tissues. Mp65p is a putative β-glucanase adhesin, which is critical to C. albicans adherence to an abiotic surface [21]. In this study, we explored whether the adherence to epithelial cells was also affected in the mp65Δ mutant. We thus compared the ability of the wild type and the mp65Δ mutant strains to adhere to BEC and Caco-2 cell monolayers by using two in vitro adhesion assays. In both assays, the mp65Δ mutant consistently displayed a significant decrease in adherence. These findings, together with the capacity of an anti-Mp65p serum to inhibit almost totally the adherence to the plastic by the wild type Selleck MK 1775 strain [21], highlights the more exstensive LY2874455 order role of Mp65p as an adhesin, in that its adhesion is not limited to inert surfaces. Nevertheless, the

decreased adherence of the mp65Δ mutant could also be indirectly due to the suggested alteration in cell wall organization, with a possible decreased cell surface expression of other C. albicans adhesins, such as those previously mentioned. Biofilms are typically found on medical devices, such as catheter surfaces, and they have attracted attention because of their persistence and resistance to antifungals [3, 30]. Given that biofilm formation begins with surface adherence and that mp65Δ mutant loses adherence to the polystyrene plates, as demonstrated in our previous paper [21], we also investigated whether the ability of the mp65Δ mutant Selleckchem RAD001 in forming biofilms had altered. As consistently shown by our data, the mp65Δ mutant displayed a strongly defective biofilm formation, in contrast to wild type that produced abundant biofilm. Conclusions The findings reported in the current paper significantly extend beyond the previously reported role of Mp65p in hyphal cell wall biogenesis and actually confirm that morphogenesis

and cell wall remodeling are intimately related issues [22, 50, 55]. The knock-out of the MP65 gene affects biological properties that are of potential relevance for candidiasis. Together with the defective hyphal morphogenesis [21], these findings provide Astemizole some further functional correlates to the previously demonstrated loss of invasive and mucosal pathogenicity by the mp65Δ null mutant. Overall, the MP65 gene appears to play a role in cell wall structure and stability which, by still unknown mechanisms, are translated into fungal virulence. For all of the discussed reasons, and with the previously reported evidence of Mp65p being a major target of host immune response to C. albicans [12], this protein remains an interesting potential target for therapeutic or immunotherapeutic interventions. Acknowledgements This work was supported in part by grants from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (National AIDS Project, under contract No. 50/C). The authors are also grateful to Dr.