Characterization of extracellular proteins in members of the Paracoccidioides complex

Abstract

Paracoccidioides is a thermodimorphic fungus that causes Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) – an endemic systemic mycosis in Latin America. The genus comprises several phylogenetic species which present some genetic and serological differences. The diversity presented among isolates of the same genus has been explored in several microorganisms. There have also been attempts to clarify differences that might be related to virulence existing in isolates that cause the same disease. In this work, we analyzed the secretome of two isolates in the Paracoccidioides genus, isolates Pb01 and PbEpm83, and performed infection assays in macrophages to evaluate the influence of the secretomes of those isolates upon an in vitro model of infection. The use of a label-free proteomics approach (LC-MSE) allowed us to identify 92 proteins that are secreted by those strains. Of those proteins, 35 were differentially secreted in Pb01, and 36 in PbEpm83. According to the functional annotation, most of the identified proteins are related to adhesion and virulence processes. These results provide evidence that different members of the Paracoccidioides complex can quantitatively secrete different proteins, which may influence the characteristics of virulence, as well as host-related processes.