| Summary: | Candidiasis is a fungal infection caused by Candida spp. especially Candida albicans, C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis. Although the medicinal therapeutic strategies have rapidly improved, the mortality
rate as candidiasis has continuously increased. The secreted and membrane-bound virulence factors (VFs)
are responsible for fungal invasion, damage and translocation through the host enterocytes besides the evasion from host immune system. VFs such as agglutinin-like sequences (Als), heat shock protein 70, phospholipases, secreted aspartyl proteinases (Sap), lipases, enolases and phytases are mostly hydrolases which
degrade or interact with the enterocyte membrane components. Candidalysin, however, acts as a peptide
toxin to induce necrotic cell lysis. To date, structural studies of the VFs remain underexplored, hindering their
functional analyses. Among the VFs, only Sap and Als have their structures deposited in Protein Data Bank
(PDB). Therefore, this review scrutinizes the mechanisms of these VFs by discussing the VF-deficient studies
of several Candida spp. and their abilities to produce these VFs. Nonetheless, their latest reported sequential
and structural analyses are discussed to impart a wider perception of the host-pathogen interactions and
potential vaccine or antifungal drug targets. This review signifies that more VFs structural investigations and
mining in the emerging Candida spp. are required to decipher their pathogenicity and virulence mechanisms
compared to the prominent C. albicans.
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