Pathogen-specific structural features of two key players in Candida albicans morphogenetic switch

Abstract

Ras-like protein 1 (CaRas1) is a key regulator of the switch between the yeast and hyphal forms of Candida albicans, a feature associated with pathogenesis. CaRas1 is activated by the guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) CaCdc25, triggering hyphal growth-related signaling pathways through its highly conserved GTP-binding domain (G-domain). An important function in hyphal growth has also been proposed for the long hypervariable region downstream of the G-domain of CaRas1, whose unusual content of polyQ stretches and Q/N repeats make CaRas1 unique within Ras-family proteins. Despite its biological importance, both the structure of CaRas1 and the molecular basis of its activation by CaCdc25 remain unexplored. Here, we show that CaRas1 displays an elongated shape and that its hypervariable region contains helical structural elements with intramolecular coiled-coil propensity and limited conformational flexibility. Functional assays revealed that CaRas1 activation by CaCdc25 is highly efficient, with 5-to 2000-fold higher activity levels than reported for human GEFs. In addition, the threedimensional structure of the catalytic region of CaCdc25, together with the structural characterization of CaRas1/CaCdc25 complexes, unveiled a specific region located in the -helical hairpin of CaCdc25, critical for CaRas1 activation, where negatively charged substitutions reduce its activity. The unique structural features of the low complexity region of CaRas1 and the distinctive properties of CaRas1 activation by CaCdc25, common in the homologous proteins from CTG-clade species, uncover novel strategies to target key virulence factors in human-infecting fungal pathogens.