Cano L E, Gomez B, Brummer E, Restrepo A, Stevens D A
Corporacion para Investigaciones Biologicas, Hospital Pablo Tobon Uribe, Medellin, Colombia.
Infect Immun. 1994 Apr;62(4):1494-6. doi: 10.1128/iai.62.4.1494-1496.1994.
Conidia of P. brasiliensis ingested by murine macrophages at 37 degrees C showed enhanced transformation to yeast cells and further intracellular growth compared with conidia in culture medium alone. Treatment of macrophages with the iron chelator deferoxamine inhibited the intracellular conidium-to-yeast transformation. Cytokine-activated macrophages could also exert this inhibitory effect. Holotransferrin reversed the inhibitory effect of either deferoxamine or activated macrophages on intracellular conidium-to-yeast transformation. These results indicate that iron restriction is one of the mechanisms by which activated macrophages control the intracellular transformation of ingested conidia and growth of yeast cells.