Host-Imposed Copper Poisoning Impacts Fungal Micronutrient Acquisition during Systemic Candida albicans Infections

This work was supported by the European Research Council (http://erc.europa.eu/: STRIFE Advanced Grant ERC-2009-AdG-249793). A.J.P.B. was also supported by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Research Council (www.bbsrc.ac.uk: Research Grants BB/F00513X/1, BB/K017365/1), the UK Medical Research Council (www.mrc.ac.uk: Programme Grant MR/M026663/1; Centre Grant MR/ N006364/1), and the Wellcome Trust (www.wellcome.ac.uk: Strategic Award 097377)Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Correction: Spatiotemporal distribution and speciation of silver nanoparticles in the healing wound.

Correction for 'Spatiotemporal distribution and speciation of silver nanoparticles in the healing wound' by Marco Roman et al., Analyst, 2020, 145, 6456–6469, DOI: 10.1039/D0AN00607F

In vivo formation of natural HgSe nanoparticles in the liver and brain of pilot whales

Acknowledgments Z.G. thanks to the College of Physical Sciences at University of Aberdeen and Chevron USA for the provided studentship. P.M.K. is the recipient of an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT120100277). Parts of this research were undertaken on the XFM beamline at the Australian Synchrotron, Victoria, Australia. The assistance of Daryl Howard (XFM beamline, Australian Synchrotron) is acknowledged. Although EPA contributed to this article, the research presented was not performed by or funded by EPA and was not subject to EPA's quality system requirements. Consequently, the views, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect or represent EPA's views or policies. MRCAT operations are supported by the Department of Energy and the MRCAT member institutions. This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. The authors declare no competing financial interests. F.L.R. and A.B. acknowledge Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme and Marine Scotland for funding. Author Contributions E.M.K and J.F. designed the experiments. Z.G. measured total Hg and conducted Hg speciation. Total Se was determined by A.R. and Z.G. M.M.L. performed Se speciation and 2D imaging by LA-ICP-MS was done by D.S.U. XANES was performed by K.S. and XRF by E.L. and P.M.K. Samples were obtained by E.M.K. through A.B. and age determination was done by F.R. spICP-MS was performed by E.H.L., K.L., G.W. and Z.G. The manuscript was written by Z.G. and all authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Fungal iron availability during deep seated candidiasis is defined by a complex interplay involving systemic and local events

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Spatiotemporal distribution and speciation of silver nanoparticles in the healing wound

Funding: This research was supported by funds from the MIUR-FIRB project number RBFR08M6W8. Acknowledgments: ELGA LabWater is acknowledged for providing the PURELAB Option-Q and Ultra Analytic systems, which produced the ultra-pure water used for Ag determinations. Adam Douglas and Dhinesh Asogan are acknowledged for their technical support during LA-ICP-MS analysis at the University of Venice, and the authors gratefully acknowledge Bill Spence and Teledyne Cetac Technologies for the loan of the laser ablation instrumentation. Laura Molin and ISTM-CNR are acknowledged for MALDI-TOF-MS analysis. The synchrotron experiments were performed on beamline ID21 at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Grenoble, France (proposal #CH4121).Peer reviewedPostprin

Possible link between Hg and Cd accumulation in the brain of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas)

Acknowledgements M. M. Lawan for his helpful discussions about Se and advice on ICP-MS. C. C. Brombach for his introduction to CV-AFS and to D. Bellis for valuable comments and reviewing the English language in the manuscript. ZG would also like to thank the College of Physical Sciences at the University of Aberdeen and Chevron USA for the provided studentship. FLR and AB acknowledge Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme and Marine Scotland for the funding.Peer reviewedPostprin

Spatiotemporal and chemical dynamics of silver nanoparticles in the burn wound

Silver nanoparticles are innovative antimicrobial agents used in key applications related to the care of burns and chronic wounds, but their chemical in vivo dynamics in human tissues has not been directly observed so far.1-3 In this study, synchrotron radiation μXRF/μXANES and laser ablation ICP-MS were used to provide the first information on the spatiotemporal distribution and chemical speciation of silver in full-profile biopsies collected from the wound bed of burn patients treated with a dressing containing nanoparticles. A significant penetration of the metal was observed, inversely associated with the level of structural organization of the tissue, and accompanied by sequential processes of dissolution, chloride complexation, change into metal-thiol protein complexes, and final mobilization into deeper skin layers towards the vascular system. Hydrodynamic chromatography-single particle ICP-MS was used to confirm the high level of dissolved silver species and the absence of nanoparticles in the blood of analogous patients.4 The results provide new realistic bases to design innovative silver nanomaterials with optimal antibacterial efficacy and minimum risks for the patient

Systemic candidiasis disturbs host renal iron homeostasis and affects splenic function.

<p><b>Panels A–C.</b> Immunohistochemical detection of iron homeostasis associated proteins in kidneys of healthy and infected animals reveals correlation with renal iron loading. Ferritin, HO-1, HO-2, and the transferrin receptor (TfR) all increase in infected kidneys in comparison to healthy controls (<b>A</b>) Ferritin is distributed outside areas occupied by <i>C. albicans</i> (<b>A</b>, arrowheads). In healthy tissue (<b>B, left</b>), ferritin content is low and mainly cortical, while increased and mainly medullary in animals with advanced candidiasis (<b>B, right</b>). HO-1 is concentrated in rings encompassing fungal lesions (<b>A,</b> arrowheads) and is produced by cell type(s) other than the Ly-6G or F4/80-producing immune cells (<b>C</b>). <b>Panel D</b>. Immunohistochemical analyses of murine spleens. Blue areas correspond to white pulp (dotted lines), embedded in the red pulp. Red pulp macrophages stain selectively with anti-HO-1 and anti-F4/80 antibodies: the stain for HO-1 is depleted in tissues from infected animals (arrows) (<b>D</b>). In all cases, the experiments represent <i>C. albicans</i> SC5314 infections in BALB/c mice. ‘Pas_h’, sections processed for histology; ‘c’, kidney cortex; ‘m’, medulla; ‘control’, experimental control with no primary antibodies. Size bars: panels <b>A</b> and <b>D</b>, 500 µm; <b>B</b>, 1000 µm; <b>C</b>, 200 µm.</p

High affinity copper acquisition influences fungal pathogenicity factors.

<p><i>C</i>. <i>albicans ctr1</i> cells are susceptible to copper deprivation imposed using the copper chelator BCS (95 μM) (A). The <i>C</i>. <i>albicans ctr1</i> mutant is also sensitive to iron chelation by BPS (B). The <i>C</i>. <i>albicans ctr1</i> strain is highly sensitive to H₂O₂ (C). Both of these defects are reversed by copper supplementation. Further, the <i>C</i>. <i>albicans ctr1</i> mutant displays growth defects on various carbon sources, a phenotype that is suppressed by copper supplementation, but not by haem or Fe³⁺ addition (D). Images were taken after 72 h incubation at 30°C. Number of cells spotted in every subset is given at the bottom of the panel. (E) The transcript levels for key metabolic genes are perturbed in <i>ctr1</i> cells, in the absence (top) and presence (bottom) of copper. These data represent averages of three biological replicates with two technical replicates. Numerical data are given in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0158683#pone.0158683.s014" target="_blank">S10 Table</a>. (F) Changes in <i>C</i>. <i>albicans</i> transcript levels during renal colonisation. These data represent duplicate measurements from at least four biological replicates from the kidneys of animals at early (24 h, replicates E1–E4, 4 animals) or late (96 h, replicates L1–L5, 5 animals) infection stage. Colour scale is as in (E). Fungal transcript abundances were normalised to the <i>ACT1</i> mRNA. Numerical data are given in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0158683#pone.0158683.s015" target="_blank">S11 Table</a>.</p