epiglucan and Candidiasis--Oral

Oral epithelial cells discriminate between pathogenic and non-pathogenic stimuli, and only induce an inflammatory response when they are exposed to high levels of a potentially harmful microorganism. The pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) in epithelial cells that mediate this differential response are poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that the ephrin type-A receptor 2 (EphA2) is an oral epithelial cell PRR that binds to exposed β-glucans on the surface of the fungal pathogen Candida albicans. Binding of C. albicans to EphA2 on oral epithelial cells activates signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 and mitogen-activated protein kinase signalling in an inoculum-dependent manner, and is required for induction of a proinflammatory and antifungal response. EphA2

Topics: Animals; beta-Glucans; Candida albicans; Candidiasis, Oral; Cell Line; Cytokines; Disease Models, Animal; Endocytosis; Epithelial Cells; ErbB Receptors; Inflammation Mediators; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mouth Mucosa; Phosphorylation; Receptor, EphA2; Receptors, Pattern Recognition; Signal Transduction; STAT3 Transcription Factor