Conserved inhibition of neutrophil extracellular trap release by clinical Candida albicans biofilms

Abstract

Candida albicans biofilms are difficult to eradicate due to their resistance to host defenses and antifungal drugs. Although neutrophils are the primary responder to C. albicans during invasive candidiasis, biofilms resist killing by neutrophils. Prior investigation, with the commonly used laboratory strain SC5314, linked this phenotype to the impaired release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which are structures of DNA, histones, and antimicrobial proteins involved in extracellular microbial killing. Considering the diversity of C. albicans biofilms, we examined the neutrophil response to a subset of clinical isolates forming biofilms with varying depths and architectures. Using fluorescent staining of DNA and scanning electron microscopy, we found that inhibition of NET release was conserved across the clinical isolates. However, the dampening of the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by neutrophils was strain-dependent, suggesting an uncoupling of ROS and NET inhibition. Our findings show that biofilms formed by clinical C. albicans isolates uniformly impair the release of NETs. Further investigation of this pathway may reveal novel approaches to augment immunity to C. albicans biofilm infections.