A proteomic interrogation of Cryptococcus neoformans: interaction networks for calcineurin in a heated environment

Evaluation of: Kozubowski L, Thompson JW, Cardenas ME, Moseley MA, Heitman J. Association of calcineurin with the COPI protein Sec28 and the COPII protein Sec13 revealed by quantitative proteomics. PLoS One 6(10), e25280 (2011).Calcineurin (CN) is a calcium- and calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase that consists of a catalytic subunit (calcineurin A [CnA]) and a calcium-binding, regulatory subunit (calcineurin B [CnB]). Calcineurin has been shown to be involved in a number of cellular processes, and aberrant signaling has been linked to multiple human diseases, such as cardiac hypertrophy and diabetes. Recent studies demonstrated that CN was involved in the survival of Cryptococcus neoformans, a fungal pathogen that infects humans, especially patients who are immunocompromised. CN appears to be essential for the survival and virulence of C. neoformans; however, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. The Heitman laboratory recently identified a group of potential CnA-interacting proteins in ...