Cited by 232Fungal and yeast genetics researchSignaling Pathways in DiseaseAntifungal resistance and susceptibility

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 58 of the 60 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 29 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

CRZ1 , a target of the calcineurin pathway in Candida albicans

Open access
Karababa, Mahir, Valentino, Emilio, Pardini, Giacomo, Coste, Alix T., Bille, Jacques, Sanglard, Dominique·2006·Molecular Microbiology

Abstract

Summary: Calcineurin is a major player in calcium‐dependent signal transduction pathways of eukaryotes. Calcineurin acts on transcription factors (e.g. CRZ1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae ) and governs the expression of genes in a species‐dependent fashion. In Candida albicans , the calcineurin pathway is involved in tolerance to antifungal agents, cation homeostasis and virulence. However, the components of the calcineurin pathway are still poorly investigated in this yeast species. Taking S. cerevisiae as a model to reconstitute this pathway, two CRZ1 ‐like genes, CRZ1 and CRZ2 (for c alcineurin‐ r esponsive z inc finger 1 and 2 genes), were found with C 2 H 2 zinc finger domains. Only CRZ1 was able to restore the calcium hypersusceptibility of a S. cerevisiae crz1 Δ mutant and to mediate calcium‐dependent gene expression in this yeast species. Several experiments showed that CRZ1 was dependent on calcineurin in C. albicans : (i) phenotypic analysis of a crz1 Δ/Δ mutant showed impaired growth as compared with the wild type in the presence of cations (Ca 2+ , Mn 2+ ) as does a mutant lacking calcineurin subunit A ( cna Δ/Δ) and (ii) a green fluorescent protein (GFP)–Crz1p fusion protein showed a calcium‐ and calcineurin‐dependent nuclear localization. To further analyse the relationship between calcineurin and CRZ1 , a comprehensive analysis of calcineurin/Crz1p‐dependent gene expression following addition of Ca 2+ (200 mM) was performed. Among the expression of 264 genes altered by at least twofold, the upregulation of 60 genes was dependent on both calcineurin and CRZ1 . Interestingly, a motif [5′‐G(C/T)GGT‐3′] with similarity to the target sequence of Crz1p (GNGGCG/TCA) from S. cerevisiae was identified as a putative regulatory sequence in the upstream regions of these calcineurin/Crz1p‐dependent genes. However, additional experiments showed that calcineurin may have other targets in addition to CRZ1 . First, CRZ1 was not involved in tolerance to antifungal agents (fluconazole, terbinafine) on the opposite to calcineurin. Second, CRZ1 was only moderately influencing virulence in a mice model of infection which is in sharp contrast to the strong avirulence of cna Δ/Δ mutant in the same animal model. Even though this work establishes CRZ1 as a calcineurin target, further studies are needed to identify other calcineurin‐dependent elements in C. albicans .

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This study identifies *Candida albicans* CRZ1 as a calcineurin-responsive transcription factor and functional homologue of *S. cerevisiae* Crz1p, showing calcium- and calcineurin-dependent nuclear localization and regulation of a large subset of calcium-activated genes. However, CRZ1 does not account for all calcineurin-dependent phenotypes, especially antifungal tolerance and full virulence, indicating additional calcineurin targets.

Key findings

  • Among two *CRZ1*-like genes, only *CRZ1* complemented the calcium hypersensitivity of a *S. cerevisiae crz1Δ* mutant and activated CDRE-dependent reporter expression in a calcium- and FK506-sensitive manner; *CRZ2* did not.
  • A *C. albicans crz1Δ/Δ* mutant showed impaired growth on Ca²⁺ and Mn²⁺ but not Li⁺, was less susceptible than *cnaΔ/Δ*, and unlike *cnaΔ/Δ* retained tolerance to terbinafine; *CRZ2* deletion produced no tested phenotype.
  • GFP-Crz1p localized to the nucleus after calcium exposure and remained cytosolic with FK506; protein A-Crz1p showed calcium- and calcineurin-dependent mobility shifts, consistent with post-translational modification.
  • Microarray analysis of 6039 genes found 264 calcium-regulated genes (≥2-fold), of which 69 were calcineurin-dependent and 65 Crz1p-dependent; 60 genes were regulated by both. A putative CDRE-like motif [5′-G(C/T)GGT-3′] was enriched in their promoters, and mutation of the *UTR2* promoter CDRE-like sequence abolished calcium induction.
  • In mice, wild-type infection killed all mice within 9 days, *cnaΔ/Δ* mice survived 30 days, and *crz1Δ/Δ* infection led to 30% survival at 30 days; kidney burdens at day 3 were approximately 10⁶ cfu g⁻¹ for wild type/revertant, 10² for *cnaΔ/Δ*, and 10⁴ for *crz1Δ/Δ*.

Methods

  • *C. albicans* CRZ1 and CRZ2 were disrupted using the Ura-blaster strategy; complementation and CDRE reporter assays were performed in *S. cerevisiae*.
  • Crz1p localization and modification were assayed with GFP- and protein A-tagged fusions under inducible or constitutive promoters, with calcium and FK506 treatments.
  • Genome-wide expression profiling used *C. albicans* cDNA microarrays covering 6039 genes after 200 mM CaCl₂ exposure at 20, 40, and 60 min in wild-type, *cnaΔ/Δ*, and *crz1Δ/Δ* strains; data were analyzed with ANOVA, twofold thresholds, and GeneSpring clustering.
  • Virulence was tested in a BALB/c mouse intravenous infection model with groups of 10 mice, survival monitoring for 30 days, and tissue burden counts in kidneys and spleen.

Limitations

  • The paper states that further studies are needed to identify other calcineurin-dependent elements in *C. albicans*, because CRZ1 did not explain calcineurin-dependent antifungal tolerance or full virulence.
  • The paper notes that the identity of the Crz1p post-translational modifications was not determined and that the precise NLS/NES and possible calcineurin docking motif require further analysis.
  • The paper acknowledges that virulence results differ from another study (Onyewu et al., 2004) and suggests possible explanations including strain background, URA3 positional effects, and starting inoculum; evident from the text, the microarray analysis used a single calcium concentration and three time points, so other conditions or targets may be missed.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2005.05037.x

Cites

58 of 58 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

94 Own result · 34 Own interpretation · 20 Not checked yet · 8 Own method · 5 No basis given

Verify all 29 references — free account

Show all 111 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 38
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 21
50 of 50
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The components of the calcineurin pathway are still poorly investigated in C. albicans.

    “However, the components of the calcineurin pathway are still poorly investigated in this yeast species.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The NLS is localized between residues 2 and 207 of Crz1p.

    “it can be assumed that the NLS is localized between residues 2 and 207.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Calcium activates the calcineurin signalling pathway in C. albicans.

    “As calcium is a classical activator of calcineurin activity, this cation was used as an effector to mimic the activation of the calcineurin signalling pathway in C. albicans.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The C. albicans cdr1∆/∆ cdr2∆/∆ mutant strain (DSY1025) allows optimal oestradiol-inducible transcriptional activation of the different fusion proteins.

    “All plasmids were used to transform a C. albicans cdr1∆/∆ and cdr2∆/∆ mutant strain (DSY1025) to allow optimal oestradiol-inducible transcriptional activation of the different fusion proteins.”
4 of 4

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

3 of 3

Citations

Cites

Show all 60 references

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Hanahan D., 1985, DNA Cloning. A Practical Approach, 109

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Items 101–200 of 232

Metadata

Authors
Karababa, M., Valentino, E., Pardini, G., Coste, A. T., Bille, J., & Sanglard, D.
Affiliations
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CH)
Corresponding author
Sanglard, Dominique
Venue
Molecular Microbiology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2006-01-20
Volume
59
Issue
5
Pages
1429-1451
ISSN
  • 0950-382X (ISSN-L)
  • 1365-2958
OpenAlex
W1557800963
Cited by
231
References
60
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 15
FWCI
6.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Molecular Microbiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • IRIS (submittedVersion)
  • SERVAL (Université de Lausanne) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Fungal and yeast genetics research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Signaling Pathways in Disease
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Antifungal resistance and susceptibility
Keywords
Crz1, calcineurin, Candida albicans, calcium signaling, transcriptional regulation, C2H2 zinc finger, antifungal drug tolerance, cation homeostasis, virulence, nuclear localization, gene expression, Saccharomyces cerevisiae model, fluconazole resistance
MeSH terms
Animals, Antifungal Agents, Calcium, Candida albicans, Candidiasis, Cell Nucleus, Female, Fungal Proteins, Glycoside Hydrolases, Mice, Inbred BALB C, Mutation, Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid, Virulence, Signal Transduction, Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal, Zinc Fingers, Genome, Fungal, Calcineurin, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins, Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins, Mice

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-09, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).

A second model labelled each claim on 2026-10-09 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review