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J. Bacteriol., Nov 1996, 6223-6226, Vol 178, No. 21
GB Wells, RC Dickson and RL Lester
Hyphal forms of the human pathogen Candida albicans have been found to
contain substantial quantities of phosphosphingolipids. These lipids were
fractionated into three classes by normal-phase high-performance liquid
chromatography. The first class contained equimolar amounts of phosphorus,
inositol, phytosphingosines, and fatty acids; their composition and
chromatographic behavior suggest that these compounds are
inositolphosphorylceramides. The second class contained equimolar amounts
of phosphorus, mannosylinositol, phytosphingosines, and fatty acids; their
composition and chromatographic behavior indicate that these compounds are
mannosylinositolphosphorylceramides. The third class of compounds contained
phosphorus, mannosylinositol, inositol, phytosphingosines, and fatty acids
in a molar ratio of 2:1:1:1:1; their composition and chromatographic
behavior indicate that these compounds are
mannosyldiinositolphosphorylceramides. Molecular species in each class
differ in the composition of long chain bases and fatty acids; the most
abundant long chain bases were C18 and C20 phytosphingosines, and the most
abundant fatty acids were hydroxy and nonhydroxy C24-26. The array of
sphingolipids in C. albicans is similar to that of Saccharomyces
cerevisiae. Sphingolipids have been shown to be essential in S. cerevisiae,
thus these lipids, which are not present in animals, offer a potentially
unique target for antifungal chemotherapy against C. albicans.
Copyright © 1996, American Society for Microbiology
Isolation and composition of inositolphosphorylceramide-type sphingolipids of hyphal forms of Candida albicans
Department of Biochemistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40536, USA.
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