Supplementary Material for: Involvement of Heat Shock Proteins in <b><i>Candida albicans</i></b> Biofilm Formation

Biofilm growth represents one of the most challenging problems associated with <i>Candida</i> infections, largely due to the natural resistance of biofilm to the common antifungal drugs. As elevated expression of heat shock proteins (HSP) promotes <i>Candida</i> yeast-hyphae switch, which is an essential step in biofilm formation, we investigated the expression of <i>hsp</i> genes during <i>Candida albicans</i> biofilm development. By measuring mRNA levels using qRT-PCR, we found that all three <i>hsp</i> genes that we monitored are overexpressed in the initial stage of <i>C. albicans</i> biofilm formation. To corroborate this finding, we examined the effect of 17-DMAG, a specific Hsp90 inhibitor, on the formation of <i>C. albicans</i> biofilm. Our results indicate the requirement of HSP during the early phase of <i>Candida</i> biofilm development