Haoping Liu
University of California-Irvine, CA·Microbiology & Immunology
Candida albicans is a common yeast that usually lives harmlessly on people. In hospitals, however, it can invade the bloodstream and cause deadly infections.
- Fields
Microbiology & Immunology
Genetics
Biology
- Topics
Candida albicans
fungal pathogens
candidiasis
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2027
What they work on
- Investigate how Nrg1, a repressor that blocks hypha genes, is rapidly removed when Candida albicans starts forming hyphae, a step controlled by the Ras-cAMP-PKA signaling pathway.
- Examine which signaling pathways drive Candida albicans hyphal growth inside macrophages, the immune cells that engulf microbes, to understand how the fungus escapes host defense.
- Identify the gene-expression programs switched on in Candida albicans under low oxygen and body-level CO2, conditions that sustain hyphae through the activator Ume6.
More about the research
Its ability to change shape is central to its danger. It can switch from round yeast cells to long, thread-like hyphae when it senses cues from the human body, and mutants that cannot form hyphae are less harmful in animals. The lab studies how the fungus senses its surroundings and turns those signals into a shape change.
Why it matters
Systemic candidiasis, mainly caused by Candida albicans, is the fourth leading cause of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections in the U.S. and worldwide. Learning how the fungus senses the host and switches to its invasive form, including inside immune cells, could point to new treatment strategies. Because the pathways are likely conserved, the findings may also inform work on other fungal pathogens.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Ronda Rolfes
Georgetown University, DC·Microbiology & Immunology
Test whether inositol pyrophosphates, energy-rich signaling molecules, control the PHO pathway that maintains phosphate balance when Candida albicans faces phosphate limitation.
Sohail Khoshnevis
Emory University, GA·Biochemistry
Define the composition and interacting partners of eIF3, a translation-starting protein complex, in different cell types of Candida albicans using biochemical assays and proteomics.
Karen Norris
University of Georgia, GA·Microbiology & Immunology
Test whether the NXT-2 vaccine, a lab-made peptide based on a fungal protein shared across species, triggers strong immune responses in nonhuman primates.
The school
University of California-Irvine: 46 labs on PI Pages, $645M a year on research, 524 research doctorates a year.
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