Elsevier

Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces

Volume 114, 1 February 2014, Pages 410-412
Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces

Adhesion of Candida biofilm cells to human epithelial cells and polystyrene after treatment with silver nanoparticles

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2013.10.027Get rights and content

Highlights

  • We examine the adhesion of Candida cells pre-treated with silver nanoparticles.

  • Adhesion of Candida cells to HeLa cells and polystyrene was significantly reduced.

  • Silver has potential to control the dissemination of Candida infections.

Abstract

This study investigated the adhesion to human epithelial cells and polystyrene surface of viable yeasts recovered from Candida biofilms treated with silver nanoparticles (SN). Biofilm resuspended Candida cells were added to HeLa cells or to empty wells of microtiter plates and the adhesion was verified using crystal violet staining. The adhesion of Candida cells was significantly reduced, mainly when biofilms were pretreated with 54 μg/mL SN. These new findings allow to conclude that SN may induce changes in viable yeasts, which can decrease the dissemination of Candida infections, mainly in susceptible patients.

Introduction

Candida albicans followed by Candida glabrata are the major commensal pathogens that cause fungal infections in compromised patients, such as oral or gastrointestinal candidiasis, urinary tract infections (mainly vulvovaginal candidiasis) [1] and systemic or bloodstream infections [2]. The pathogenicity of these microorganisms is related to several virulence factors, including their ability to adhere to host epithelial cells and/or inanimate substrates, which is an important precondition for colonization, infection and biofilm formation [3], [4]. Additionally, Candida biofilms are resistant to a diversity of antimicrobial agents [4], and the fungal cells released from biofilms and which return to the planktonic state may act as a continuous source of disseminated infections.

In the light of these considerations, there is a significant interest in the use of alternative antifungal agents which might decrease or inhibit fungal adhesion capacity, preventing the colonization and infection by Candida species. Our research group verified that silver nanoparticles (SN) were more effective in inhibiting biofilm formation when applied in prophylaxis than on pre-formed Candida biofilms [5], and that the particle size and the type of stabilizing agent did not interfere in the antifungal activity of SN against those biofilms [6]. Thus, with the purpose of complementing these previous data, in this study we tested the hypothesis that C. albicans and C. glabrata viable cells recovered from Candida biofilms treated with SN exhibit significantly reduced adhesion capacity to human epithelial cells and polystyrene surfaces.

Section snippets

Synthesis of silver colloidal nanoparticles

In this research, the average size of SN used was approximately 5 nm. These nanoparticles were synthesized, stabilized and characterized as described previously [5].

Human epithelial cells

A monolayer of epithelial cells from a HeLa cell line with origin in human cervical carcinoma (obtained from Gulbenkian Institute of Science, Lisbon, Portugal) was grown (at 37 °C in 5% CO2) in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (D-MEM; Gibco, Carlsbad, USA) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (Gibco, USA) and 1%

Results and discussion

As it is possible to observe in Fig. 1a and b, compared to the control groups (biofilm cells without SN treatment), C. albicans 324LA/94 and C. glabrata D1 biofilm cells showed reductions in the capacity to adhere to HeLa cells by around 53% (p = .001) and 34% (p < .001) when pretreated with silver at 13.5 μg/mL and around 40% (p = .003) and 86% (p < .001) at a silver concentration of 54 μg/mL, respectively.

The number of yeast cells adhered to polystyrene surfaces is presented in Fig. 1c and d. C.

Conclusion

In conclusion, our results sustain the hypothesis that the pretreatment of Candida biofilm cells with SN significantly reduces the subsequent adhesion capacity of C. albicans 324LA/94 and C. glabrata D1 viable cells to human epithelial cells and polystyrene surfaces. These new findings highlight the potential use of SN in controlling the dissemination of Candida infections, especially in susceptible patients. However, additional studies with a wide number of strains, and directed to investigate

Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. David Williams (Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK) for providing the strain 324LA/94, and George Duchow for the English review. Silver colloidal nanoparticles used herein were prepared by LIEC-CMDMC and INCTMN/FAPESP-CNPq, São Carlos, Brazil. This study was supported by CAPES (grant BEX 1221/10-8) and FAPESP (2009/15146-5), Brazil.

References (16)

  • L.P. Samaranayake et al.

    Arch. Oral Biol.

    (1982)
  • S. Silva et al.

    Trends Microbiol.

    (2011)
  • D.R. Monteiro et al.

    Int. J. Antimicrob. Agents

    (2009)
  • P.A. McCarron et al.

    Int. J. Pharm.

    (2007)
  • B. Thaweboon et al.

    Asian Pac. J. Trop. Med.

    (2011)
  • M.A. Pfaller et al.

    Clin. Microbiol. Rev.

    (2007)
  • A.N. Sudjana et al.

    Med. Mycol.

    (2012)
  • D.R. Monteiro et al.

    Biofouling

    (2011)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (16)

  • Yeast biofilms on abiotic surfaces: Adhesion factors and control methods

    2023, International Journal of Food Microbiology
  • Fungal biofilms: insights for the food industry

    2022, Current Opinion in Food Science
  • Polymeric nanocomposites for automotive application

    2022, Smart Polymer Nanocomposites: Design, Synthesis, Functionalization, Properties, and Applications
  • Silver Nanoparticles to Fight Candida Coinfection in the Oral Cavity

    2015, Nanotechnology in Diagnosis, Treatment and Prophylaxis of Infectious Diseases
View all citing articles on Scopus
View full text