Enterocyte tight junctions as a target for Candida albicans translocation through the gut barrier

Joint Event on 14^th International Conference on Microbial Interactions & Microbial Ecology & 11^th Edition of International Conference on Advances in Microbiology and Public Health

August 19-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria

Fabienne Bon, Tracy Paradis, Alicia Loiselet, Amandine Ducreux, Christophe D’Enfert and Frederic Dalle

UMR A PAM-University Bourgogne-Franche-Comte, France
Institut Pasteur, France
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, France

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Med Microb Diagn

Abstract :

Formerly a commensal resident of the gut microbiota in healthy humans, Candida albicans is an opportunistic pathogen causing infections ranging from superficial to the more life-threatening disseminated infections, especially in the ever-growing population of vulnerable patients in hospital settings. Because overwhelming evidences suggest that the gastrointestinal tract is the main source of disseminated C. albicans infections, deciphering the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the interaction of C. albicans with enterocytes is necessary to better understand the switch from commensalism to pathogenicity of this fungus and to improve the management of disseminated candidiasis. Different routes of the gut barrier translocation by C. albicans have been reported, including transcytosis through epithelial cells and the paracellular route where the fungus can cross the gut barrier without damaging the tissue barrier. The intestinal epithelium indeed consists in a monolayer of enterocytes where adjacent cells are jointed each other by cell junctions. Among those, tight junctions ensure integrity and impermeability of the intestinal barrier, limiting invasion of the gut barrier by Candida albicans. We propose to investigate the modulation of tight junction integrity during Candida albicans interaction with enterocytes and specify the mechanisms allowing the fungus to cross the gut barrier through the paracellular route.

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Biography :

Bon Fabienne is a Research Teacher at the University of Burgundy. Her work aims to improve knowledge on the pathophysiology of Candida albicans and more specifically on the interaction of this agent with enterocyte cells. The objective is to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the passage of Candida albicans from commensalism to the pathogenic state.

E-mail: fabienne.bon@iut-dijon.u-bourgogne.fr