This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dranginis, A. M. Articles by Lipke, P. N. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Dranginis, A. M. Articles by Lipke, P. N.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, June 2007, p. 282-294, Vol. 71, No. 2
1092-2172/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MMBR.00037-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

A Biochemical Guide to Yeast Adhesins: Glycoproteins for Social and Antisocial Occasions

Anne M. Dranginis,¹ Jason M. Rauceo,^2, Juan E. Coronado,² and Peter N. Lipke^2,3*

Department of Biological Sciences, St. John's University, Queens, New York,¹ Department of Biology and Center for Gene Structure and Function, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, New York,² Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York³

Fungi are nonmotile eukaryotes that rely on their adhesins for selective interaction with the environment and with other fungal cells. Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-cross-linked adhesins have essential roles in mating, colony morphology, host-pathogen interactions, and biofilm formation. We review the structure and binding properties of cell wall-bound adhesins of ascomycetous yeasts and relate them to their effects on cellular interactions, with particular emphasis on the agglutinins and flocculins of Saccharomyces and the Als proteins of Candida. These glycoproteins share common structural motifs tailored to surface activity and biological function. After being secreted to the outer face of the plasma membrane, they are covalently anchored in the wall through modified GPI anchors, with their binding domains elevated beyond the wall surface on highly glycosylated extended stalks. N-terminal globular domains bind peptide or sugar ligands, with between millimolar and nanomolar affinities. These affinities and the high density of adhesins and ligands at the cell surface determine microscopic and macroscopic characteristics of cell-cell associations. Central domains often include Thr-rich tandemly repeated sequences that are highly glycosylated. These domains potentiate cell-to-cell binding, but the molecular mechanism of such an association is not yet clear. These repeats also mediate recombination between repeats and between genes. The high levels of recombination and epigenetic regulation are sources of variation which enable the population to continually exploit new niches and resources.

Present address: Dept. of Microbiology, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Chaffin, W. L. (2008). Candida albicans Cell Wall Proteins. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 72: 495-544 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Rauceo, J. M., Blankenship, J. R., Fanning, S., Hamaker, J. J., Deneault, J.-S., Smith, F. J., Nantel, A., Mitchell, A. P. (2008). Regulation of the Candida albicans Cell Wall Damage Response by Transcription Factor Sko1 and PAS Kinase Psk1. Mol. Biol. Cell 19: 2741-2751 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Otoo, H. N., Lee, K. G., Qiu, W., Lipke, P. N. (2008). Candida albicans Als Adhesins Have Conserved Amyloid-Forming Sequences. Eukaryot Cell 7: 776-782 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Li, F., Palecek, S. P. (2008). Distinct domains of the Candida albicans adhesin Eap1p mediate cell-cell and cell-substrate interactions. Microbiology 154: 1193-1203 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Douglas, L. M., Li, L., Yang, Y., Dranginis, A. M. (2007). Expression and Characterization of the Flocculin Flo11/Muc1, a Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mannoprotein with Homotypic Properties of Adhesion. Eukaryot Cell 6: 2214-2221 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Coronado, J. E., Mneimneh, S., Epstein, S. L., Qiu, W.-G., Lipke, P. N. (2007). Conserved Processes and Lineage-Specific Proteins in Fungal Cell Wall Evolution. Eukaryot Cell 6: 2269-2277 [Abstract] [Full Text]