Glycogen phosphorylase L confers metabolic flexibility in neutrophils to fight fungal infections in nutrient-deprived tissues Neutrophils depend on glucose for their antifungal activities. Candida albicans consumes glucose, thus posing metabolic challenges for neutrophils. Choi and colleagues show that neutrophils upregulate...

Featured Article: Metabolic flexibility allows neutrophils to fight Candida

Upon C. albicans glucose consumption, neutrophils upregulate PYGL-mediated glycogenolysis through a dectin-1/PKA axis, thus sustaining antifungal function in glucose-low tissues
www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

Excited to share our latest publication @natcomms.nature.com
Non-canonical IL‑22 receptor signaling remodels the oral mucosal barrier during #Candida albicans immunosurveillance
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Congratulations Marc, really cool story!

Meta-analysis of gut microbiome reveals patterns of dysbiosis in colorectal cancer patients Introduction. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a malignant tumour in which dysbiosis of the gut microbiome is a contributing factor in the development of cancer. However, the species composition and species-specific changes in the gut microbiome related to CRC still require comprehensive investigation. Hypothesis. There is a significant difference in gut microbiome between CRC patients and healthy individuals. Aim. The microbiome-based association test methods are used for the association between the microbiome and host phenotypes, and linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) analysis is...

It's Bowel Cancer Awareness Month. Find out the differences in gut microbiome composition between colorectal cancer patients and healthy individuals in JMM: https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.002042 #BowelCancerAwarenessMonth #JMM

En el #DíaMundialContraElCáncerDeColon, Naiara comparte su investigación realizada en nuestro grupo y financiada por la Asociación Española contra el Cáncer.

@contracancerinv.bsky.social @anguitalab.bsky.social @cicbiogune.bsky.social #WorldColonCancerDay

Nuestra compañera Naiara Gutiez estudia el papel de la microbiota intestinal y la dieta en la progresión y severidad del cáncer colorrectal, uno de los tipos de tumor más prevalentes.

#DíaMundialContraElCáncerDeColon
@contracancerinv.bsky.social @anguitalab.bsky.social @cicbiogune.bsky.social

Memory loss is fuelled by gut microbes in ageing mice If confirmed in people, the finding might lead to gut-targeted therapies that could reverse cognitive decline.

Memory loss is fuelled by gut microbes in ageing mice www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Oier Etxebeste takes us on a tour through the decades of research on the role of BrlA in Aspergillus conidiation

#Fungal2026

Glycogen phosphorylase L confers metabolic flexibility in neutrophils to fight fungal infections in nutrient-deprived tissues Neutrophils depend on glucose for their antifungal activities. Candida albicans consumes glucose, thus posing metabolic challenges for neutrophils. Choi and colleagues show that neutrophils upregulate...

Metabolic flexibility allows neutrophils to fight Candida

In response to C. albicans glucose consumption, neutrophils upregulate PYGL-mediated glycogenolysis through a dectin-1/PKA axis, thus sustaining antifungal function in glucose-deprived tissues
www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

Candida albicans synergizes with Fusobacterium nucleatum in colorectal cancer progression via the Flo9-RadD interaction How does other types of microbe like fungi influence tumor-promoting role of Fusobacterium nucleatum? In this study, Li et al. establish that commensal fungi facilitate translocation of pro-tumor bacteria across mucus barrier to drive colorectal cancer (CRC) progression, revealing a cross-kingdom collaboration between fungi and bacteria.

Online Now: Candida albicans synergizes with Fusobacterium nucleatum in colorectal cancer progression via the Flo9-RadD interaction

Fungal infection drives metabolic reprogramming in epithelial cells via aerobic glycolysis and an alternative TCA cycle shunt Candida hijacks epithelial metabolism via glycolysis and GOT1-dependent TCA shunt, influencing antifungal defense.

www.science.org/doi/full/10....

Thanks Jorge! Espero que te parezca interesante 😊

#bioGUNE_Research | 🦠 An international team including #CICbioGUNE @brtaeus.bsky.social shows how oral cells reprogram their metabolism in response to Candida albicans

Led by @aizepellon.bsky.social, the study reveals new metabolic pathways with therapeutic potential

🔗 ow.ly/hMwR50Y9eCq

Fungal infection drives metabolic reprogramming in epithelial cells via aerobic glycolysis and an alternative TCA cycle shunt Candida hijacks epithelial metabolism via glycolysis and GOT1-dependent TCA shunt, influencing antifungal defense.

If you’re interested in host–microbe interactions, immunometabolism, mucosal biology, or fungal pathogenesis, I hope you’ll check out the full article. 👇

@science.org

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Thanks to all my colleagues and collaborators for this truly multidisciplinary effort.

@kingsdentistry.bsky.social @cicbiogune.bsky.social @gstt-nhs.bsky.social

Overall, our work shows that Candida doesn’t just trigger immune pathways — it rewires epithelial metabolism to create an environment that benefits the fungus and weakens host defenses.

Blocking GOT1 with a specific inhibitor reduced epithelial damage and inflammatory cytokine release.

This means the pathway is not just a marker — it’s functionally relevant.

Targeting host metabolism may offer new ways to manage mucosal fungal infections.

We confirmed that GOT1 and pyruvate carboxylase are upregulated during infection, and TCA metabolites (citrate, malate, α-ketoglutarate, etc.) decrease.

This aligns perfectly with the alternative pyruvate shunt predicted by our modelling.

In mice, reducing glycolysis with 2-deoxyglucose actually reduced fungal burden and weight loss, whereas adding extra glucose made disease worse.

This contrasts with macrophages and systemic candidiasis, showing that oral epithelial infections follow different metabolic rules.

One of the most interesting outcomes: Sugar availability dramatically changes infection outcomes.

High glucose → worse epithelial damage
Alternative hexoses (galactose/fructose) → impaired cytokine production

❗Metabolism and the nutritional environment really matter.

Our team used a multi-disciplinary approach combining:
• transcriptomics
• NMR-based metabolomics
• genome scale metabolic modelling
• epithelial infection assays
• a mouse model of oropharyngeal candidiasis
• human patient biopsies

This gave us a full view of the epithelial metabolic shift.

Why is this important? 🤔

Because this shunt helps determine the fate of infected cells, influencing:
• their ability to mount an immune response
• how much damage the fungus can cause
• the overall inflammatory landscape of the mucosa

Even more striking, we identified a previously unrecognized metabolic route activated during infection: a GOT1-dependent TCA cycle shunt.

This pathway diverts carbon away from the normal TCA cycle, producing aspartate and ammonia instead.

Our key finding: C. albicans forces epithelial cells to shift into aerobic glycolysis — a fast but inefficient way of generating energy, similar to the “Warburg effect" observed in cancer cells.

This happens early in infection and shapes how cells survive and respond.

Most people carry C. albicans in their mouth without issues. But when immunity weakens or the oral niche is altered, this fungus can overgrow and cause oral candidiasis.

Despite how common it is, we still lack a full picture of how epithelial cells react metabolically when infected.

We just published a new paper in Science Advances, where we uncover how #Candida albicans reprograms the metabolism of oral epithelial cells during infection.

As first and corresponding author, I’m excited to share what we found — and why it matters.

#Skytorial #Immunometabolism #MedMycoSky

Our paper on the mysterious Devonian organism Prototaxites has now finally been published! See the paper here (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...) and our explainer thread below!
Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage

#bioGUNE_Research |🧬 An international study led by
@arkaitzcarracedo.bsky.social Lab #CICbioGUNE @brtaeus.bsky.social, published in @nature.com, shows how polyamines help cells make decisions and protect proteins

@contracancerinv.bsky.social @ciberisciii.bsky.social

🔗 ow.ly/xkuY50XWKRV

In our latest paper, just published in @natcomms.nature.com we show that soil conditions, landscape structure & land-use change shape global soil pathogenic fungal diversity. Landscape complexity and crops increase diversity, while grass and tree cover reduce it www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#bioGUNE_Outreach | 🎙️ Microbiota y sistema inmune

➡️ ¿Pueden nuestras defensas más básicas “recordar” infecciones y ayudarnos a combatir la resistencia a los antibióticos? Descúbrelo con @aizepellon.bsky.social #CICbioGUNE @brtaeus.bsky.social

#BioEnredados
🔗 cicbiogune.es/outreach/pod...