Abstract
Macrophage recognition of Candida albicans (C. albicans) is facilitated by pattern recognition receptors that interact with the fungal pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). Dectin-1 is the major macrophage receptor that is known to recognize fungal Beta-glucans leading to induction of various immune responses. This receptor is also known to be required for in vivo protection against C. albicans (Taylor et al., 2007). We recently showed that the Dectin-1 mediated protection in vivo is strain-dependent, and that C. albicans can adapt to modulate immune recognition by Dectin-1 (Marakalala et al., 2013). In vitro analysis, however, showed a Dectin-1-dependent and pro-inflammatory responses against all strains tested. This protocol describes in detail the in vitro analysis used in the paper. In particular, methods involved in fluorescent labeling of live C. albicans, quantification of macrophage binding of the pathogen, and pro-inflammatory responses to yeast and hyphal forms of the fungi are described.