{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]],"date-time":"2026-05-12T21:38:11Z","timestamp":1778621891144,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,26]],"date-time":"2022-10-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1666742400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Cryptococcosis in the central nervous system (CNS) can present with motor declines described as Parkinsonism. Although several lines of evidence indicate that dopaminergic (DA) neuron degeneration and \u03b1-synuclein accumulation contribute to the hallmark of Parkinsonism and Parkinson\u2019s disease (PD), little is known about cryptococcal infections associated with neuronal degeneration. In this study, the effects of <jats:italic>Cryptococcus neoformans<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>C. gattii<\/jats:italic> infections on dopaminergic neuron degeneration, \u03b1-synuclein accumulation, and lifespan in <jats:italic>Caenorhabditis elegans<\/jats:italic> were investigated. The results showed that cryptococcal infections significantly (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&amp;lt;0.05) induced DA neuron degeneration similar to a selective cathecholamine neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) in <jats:italic>C. elegans<\/jats:italic> (BZ555 strain) when compared to mock infected controls. Cryptococcal infections also significantly (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&amp;lt; 0.05) induced \u03b1-synuclein aggregation in <jats:italic>C. elegans<\/jats:italic> (NL5901 strain). Moreover, lifespan of the infected worms was significantly decreased (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&amp;lt;0.0001). In conclusion, DA neurodegeneration and \u03b1-synuclein accumulation are associated with lifespan reduction during cryptococcal infection in <jats:italic>C elegans<\/jats:italic>.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2022.1039336","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,26]],"date-time":"2022-10-26T07:18:26Z","timestamp":1666768706000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Infections of Cryptococcus species induce degeneration of dopaminergic neurons and accumulation of \u03b1-Synuclein in Caenorhabditis elegans"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Thitinan","family":"Kitisin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Watcharamat","family":"Muangkaew","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Passanesh","family":"Sukphopetch","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"413","DOI":"10.1128\/EC.3.2.413-419.2004","article-title":"Challenge of drosophila melanogaster with cryptococcus neoformans and role of the innate immune response. eukaryot","volume":"3","author":"Apidianakis","year":"2004","journal-title":"Cell"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"96","DOI":"10.1007\/s40588-015-0016-0","article-title":"A model CNS fungal infection: Cryptococcal meningitis","volume":"2","author":"Beardsley","year":"2015","journal-title":"Curr. 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