Autophagy in Candida albicans.

Candida albicans is considered a commensal organism of humans, colonizing the oral cavity, gastrointestinal, and reproductive tracts. However, when host defenses are compromised C. albicans can transform into a tissue invasive pathogen. Infections fall into two broad categories, those of mucosal tissue and serious disseminated disease, which involves transport through the bloodstream and invasion of the deeper organs. The ability of C. albicans to colonize diverse host microenvironments and switch from benign commensal to invasive pathogen suggests that C. albicans is able to undergo rapid and highly specialized adaptive responses in vivo. To date the role played by autophagy in facilitating asymptomatic host colonization, persistence, and transition of C. albicans into its pathogenic form have not been fully explored. Also the therapeutic potential of manipulating autophagic degradation within an invading fungus is yet to be established. In this chapter we describe several methods that have been adapted to detect autophagy within the opportunistic pathogen C. albicans.