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Riebold D, Mahnkopf M, Wicht K, Zubiria-Barrera C, Heise J, Frank M, Misch D, Bauer T, Stocker H, Slevogt H. Axenic Long-Term Cultivation of Pneumocystis jirovecii. J Fungi (Basel) 2023; 9:903. [PMID: 37755011 PMCID: PMC10533121 DOI: 10.3390/jof9090903] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2023] [Revised: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Pneumocystis jirovecii, a fungus causing severe Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in humans, has long been described as non-culturable. Only isolated short-term experiments with P. jirovecii and a small number of experiments involving animal-derived Pneumocystis species have been published to date. However, P. jirovecii culture conditions may differ significantly from those of animal-derived Pneumocystis, as there are major genotypic and phenotypic differences between them. Establishing a well-performing P. jirovecii cultivation is crucial to understanding PCP and its pathophysiological processes. The aim of this study, therefore, was to develop an axenic culture for Pneumocystis jirovecii. To identify promising approaches for cultivation, a literature survey encompassing animal-derived Pneumocystis cultures was carried out. The variables identified, such as incubation time, pH value, vitamins, amino acids, and other components, were trialed and adjusted to find the optimum conditions for P. jirovecii culture. This allowed us to develop a medium that produced a 42.6-fold increase in P. jirovecii qPCR copy numbers after a 48-day culture. Growth was confirmed microscopically by the increasing number and size of actively growing Pneumocystis clusters in the final medium, DMEM-O3. P. jirovecii doubling time was 8.9 days (range 6.9 to 13.6 days). In conclusion, we successfully cultivated P. jirovecii under optimized cell-free conditions in a 70-day long-term culture for the first time. However, further optimization of the culture conditions for this slow grower is indispensable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana Riebold
- Research Centre of Medical Technology and Biotechnology (FZMB), 99947 Bad Langensalza, Germany; (M.M.); (J.H.)
| | - Marie Mahnkopf
- Research Centre of Medical Technology and Biotechnology (FZMB), 99947 Bad Langensalza, Germany; (M.M.); (J.H.)
| | - Kristina Wicht
- Separation Science Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University, B-9000 Gent, Belgium;
| | - Cristina Zubiria-Barrera
- Respiratory Infection Dynamics Group, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany; (C.Z.-B.); (H.S.)
- Department of Respiratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Hannover Medical School, German Center for Lung Research (DZL), BREATH, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Jan Heise
- Research Centre of Medical Technology and Biotechnology (FZMB), 99947 Bad Langensalza, Germany; (M.M.); (J.H.)
| | - Marcus Frank
- Medical Biology and Electron Microscopy Centre (EMZ), University Medicine Rostock, 18057 Rostock, Germany;
| | - Daniel Misch
- Lungenklinik Heckeshorn, Helios Klinikum Emil-von-Behring, 14165 Berlin, Germany; (D.M.); (T.B.)
| | - Torsten Bauer
- Lungenklinik Heckeshorn, Helios Klinikum Emil-von-Behring, 14165 Berlin, Germany; (D.M.); (T.B.)
| | - Hartmut Stocker
- Clinic for Infectiology, St. Joseph’s Hospital Berlin, 12101 Berlin, Germany;
| | - Hortense Slevogt
- Respiratory Infection Dynamics Group, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany; (C.Z.-B.); (H.S.)
- Department of Respiratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Hannover Medical School, German Center for Lung Research (DZL), BREATH, 30625 Hannover, Germany
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