Candida Can Burst Immune Cells—and Change Shape to Hide From Them

Candida fungi appear to use two different survival strategies against the human immune system: breaking out of infected immune cells and changing their shape to avoid detection, according to research from Monash University reported by Phys.org. One study examined what happens after an immune cell called a macrophage engulfs a fungal cell. Instead of being destroyed, the fungus can trigger the host protein NINJ1 to create large openings in the macrophage’s membrane. The immune cell then ruptures, releasing the fungal cells and potentially allowing the infection to spread. The researchers found that supplying additional alanine, a naturally occurring amino acid, blocked this process in their experiments. By preventing NINJ1 from forming the pores, alanine kept the fungal cells trapped inside the immune cells. The researchers said this approach could eventually help strengthen immune containment alongside antifungal treatment, although the report describes it as a potential treatment direction rather than an established therapy. A separate study focused on Candida auris, a fungus that has caused outbreaks in Europe and the United States. The researchers found that the organism responds to the nutrients around it. In the bloodstream, where glucose is available, it remains small and round—a form the researchers said immune cells may be less likely to recognize as threatening. When exposed to different sugars commonly found on skin, C. auris instead becomes elongated and sticky. That change may help it attach to tissue and persist in skin-associated conditions while avoiding immune detection. The findings identify nutritional conditions as important signals in the fungus’s behavior. Researchers involved in the work said understanding those signals could lead to ways of preventing C. auris from hiding or anchoring to human tissue. Candida auris and Candida albicans are described in the report as life-threatening fungal pathogens. The World Health Organization lists both among its four most concerning fungal pathogens, while the report says Candida infections kill almost a million people worldwide each year. The Monash researchers emphasized that treatment development is difficult because fungi share many cellular features with humans, increasing the risk that drugs targeting the fungus could also harm patients.