CCMB uncovers link behind Titan cell formation in deadly fungus

Hyderabad: A breakthrough by scientists at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad has potentially opened up ways to explore antifungal therapies.CCMB scientists have uncovered a biological circuit that helps Cryptococcus neoformans, a fungus that can spread from the lungs to the brain, transform into giant “Titan cells” that evade immune attack, and survive inside the human body.The study, led by Dr Sriram Varahan, links glucose metabolism to calcium signalling and calcineurin activation, a key cellular signalling pathway. The researchers found that this chain of events controls the fungus’s ability to form Titan cells, revealing a mechanism that could eventually be researched for antifungal therapies aimed at preventing the pathogen from acquiring one of its major survival advantages.Cryptococcus neoformans can initially infect the lungs before spreading through the bloodstream to the brain, where it causes cryptococcal meningitis (serious fungal infection of the brain).