The Cryptococcal Central Nervous System Transcriptome during Human Disease

The transcriptional responses of cryptococcus during human infection are dynamic and highly dependent on the immediate signals from the environment. We examined the RNA-Seq profiles of Cryptococcus isoalted from human CSF and in comparison with to the same isolate's response to the stresses of artificial CSF and within the rabbit subarachnoid space as well as growth in nutritious media with little or no stress. By comparing these transcriptomes, we have identified regulated genes and categorized them by networks and functional classifications to identify candidate genes essential for yeast survival and as well as those uniformly expressed in CSF across diverse isolates that may be markers for the human disease state. Overall design: The cryptococcal transcriptomes directly from 30 yeast isolates from human CNS and within four different conditions. In total, there are 30 human CSF, 10 rabbit CSF (rCSF), 10 artificial CSF, 29 capsule-inducing media (CAP), and 29 rich media (YPD). The rabbit CSF samples are collected from two time points, 1-day and 4-day. This sampe set include three lineages, VNI, VNBI, and VNBII.