Val Culotta Lab
Examining the role of free radicals and micronutrients in the battle between host and pathogen during fungal infections
About the Culotta Lab
The Culotta Lab has broad interest in the physiology of fungi that are important pathogens in public health. Of the several million species of fungi that inhabit earth, only a couple hundred are known to cause disease, largely because the animal host is a hostile environment. For those species that evolved their way to pathogenesis, the fungus can endure the toxic insults of the human immune system and can compete with their host and neighboring microbes for micronutrients. We specifically focus on understanding fungal adaptations to host attacks involving free radicals and heavy metals. The lab is a mixture of master's and doctorate students and postdoctoral fellows. We are welcoming to all that share our passion for the amazing fungi.
Research Overview
Research in the Culotta Lab focuses on the role of metal ions and oxygen radicals in biology and disease. Metal ions such as copper, iron, and manganese are essential micronutrients for both microbial pathogens and their animal hosts, and during infection, a tug of war for these nutrients ensues at the host-pathogen interface. As part of our immune response, we withhold essential metals from pathogens and also bombard them with free radicals or so-called reactive oxygen species (ROS). Successful pathogens have evolved clever ways to thwart these assaults by the host.
Using a combination of biochemical, cell biology, and molecular genetic approaches, we are exploring how microbes and their animal hosts use weapons of metals and ROS at the infection battleground. Our current emphasis is on pathogenic fungi including the most prevalent human fungal pathogen, Candida albicans, and the emerging “superbug” fungal pathogen, Candida auris.
Kidneys: A Fungal Battleground
Candida albicans is a common resident of human gut systems, but under the right (or to the host, wrong) conditions it can cause life-threatening infections. The Culotta Lab studies C. albicans infections and the interaction between pathogen and host using a mouse model of disseminated infection. In this system, the main site of infection is the kidneys, where the fungal cells form an extensive hyphal network that penetrates the kidney tissue.
Selected Publications
Wildeman AS, Patel NK, Cormack BP, Culotta VC. The role of manganese in morphogenesis and pathogenesis of the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans. PLoS Pathogens, 2023.
Chandler CE, Hernandez FG, Totten M, Robinett NG, Schatzman SS, Zhang SX, Culotta VC. Biochemical Analysis of CaurSOD4, a Potential Therapeutic Target for the Emerging Fungal Pathogen Candida auris. ACS Infectious Diseases, 2022.
Culbertson EM, Culotta VC. Copper in infectious disease: Using both sides of the penny. Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biololgy, 2021
Robinett NG, Culbertson EM, Peterson RL, Sanchez H, Andes DR, Nett JE, Culotta VC. Exploiting the vulnerable active site of a copper-only superoxide dismutase to disrupt fungal pathogenesis. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2019.
Li CX, Gleason JE, Zhang SX, Bruno VM, Cormack BP, Culotta VC. Candida albicans adapts to host copper during infection by swapping metal cofactors for superoxide dismutase. PNAS, 2015.