Cryptococcal eicosanoids

Lipids play an important role in fungal pathogenesis; lipids like ergosterol have been used as drug target. Other lipids, like eicosanoids, are found across different kingdoms, and in mammals are used as modulators of the immune system, but their role in fungi is not clear. Fungal pathogens such as Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Cryptococcus neoformans can produce eicosanoids when arachidonic acid is available. C. neoformans lacks cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenases to produce eicosanoids, suggesting the presence of alternative pathways for the synthesis of eicosanoids. C. neoformans genes PLBL1 and LAC1 are involved in the biosynthesis of eicosanoids, and deletion of these genes diminishes virulence of Cryptococcus. Therefore, We used RNA-seq analyses to identify several upregulated genes in the presence of arachidonic acid (AA).