Editing Candida albicans (section)

=== Role of GSDMD in C.albicans infection ===
Gasdermin D (GSDMD) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the GSDMD gene and is a known target of the inflammasome and acts as an effector molecule of programmed cell death known as pyroptosis. This protein determines cell lysis to prevent pathogen replication and results in the release of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β) into the extracellular space to recruit and activate immune cells at the site of infection. Inflammasome activation due to C.albicans infection triggers the release of a [[cytokine storm]] necessary to fight the pathogen. Excessive release of these pro-inflammatory mediators has been shown to exaggerate systemic inflammation leading to vascular injury and damage to vital organs. Unfortunately, Candida albicans therapy is often ineffective despite the availability of many antifungal drugs, mainly because of resistance phenomena. During conventional pyroptosis controlled by the inflammasome-GSDMD axis is hijacked by C. albicans to facilitate escape from macrophages through unfolding of hyphae and candidalysin, a fungal toxin released from hyphae. It has been shown<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ding |first1=Xionghui |last2=Kambara |first2=Hiroto |last3=Guo |first3=Rongxia |last4=Kanneganti |first4=Apurva |last5=Acosta-Zaldívar |first5=Maikel |last6=Li |first6=Jiajia |last7=Liu |first7=Fei |last8=Bei |first8=Ting |last9=Qi |first9=Wanjun |last10=Xie |first10=Xuemei |last11=Han |first11=Wenli |last12=Liu |first12=Ningning |last13=Zhang |first13=Cunling |last14=Zhang |first14=Xiaoyu |last15=Yu |first15=Hongbo |date=2021-11-18 |title=Inflammasome-mediated GSDMD activation facilitates escape of Candida albicans from macrophages |journal=Nature Communications |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=6699 |doi=10.1038/s41467-021-27034-9 |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=8602704 |pmid=34795266|bibcode=2021NatCo..12.6699D }}</ref> that disruption of GSDMD in macrophages infected with Candida albicans reduces the fungal load. In addition, the presence of hyphae and candidalysin are key factors in the activation of GSDMD and the release of Candida from macrophages. Also using Candida-infected mice, inhibition of GSDMD has been shown to paradoxically improve prognosis and survival, indicating that this protein may be a potential therapeutic target in C. albicans-induced sepsis.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}