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Finkina EI, Shevchenko OV, Fateeva SI, Tagaev AA, Ovchinnikova TV. Antifungal Plant Defensins as an Alternative Tool to Combat Candidiasis. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2024; 13:1499. [PMID: 38891308 PMCID: PMC11174490 DOI: 10.3390/plants13111499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2024] [Revised: 05/26/2024] [Accepted: 05/27/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
Currently, the spread of fungal infections is becoming an urgent problem. Fungi of the Candida genus are opportunistic microorganisms that cause superficial and life-threatening systemic candidiasis in immunocompromised patients. The list of antifungal drugs for the treatment of candidiasis is very limited, while the prevalence of resistant strains is growing rapidly. Therefore, the search for new antimycotics, including those exhibiting immunomodulatory properties, is of great importance. Plenty of natural compounds with antifungal activities may be extremely useful in solving this problem. This review evaluates the features of natural antimicrobial peptides, namely plant defensins as possible prototypes of new anticandidal agents. Plant defensins are important components of the innate immune system, which provides the first line of defense against pathogens. The introduction presents a brief summary regarding pathogenic Candida species, the pathogenesis of candidiasis, and the mechanisms of antimycotic resistance. Then, the structural features of plant defensins, their anticandidal activities, their mechanisms of action on yeast-like fungi, their ability to prevent adhesion and biofilm formation, and their combined action with conventional antimycotics are described. The possible mechanisms of fungal resistance to plant defensins, their cytotoxic activity, and their effectiveness in in vivo experiments are also discussed. In addition, for the first time for plant defensins, knowledge about their immunomodulatory effects is also presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ekaterina I. Finkina
- M. M. Shemyakin & Yu. A. Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, The Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya Str. 16/10, 117997 Moscow, Russia (T.V.O.)
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2
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Wang B, Wei PW, Yao Y, Song CR, Wang X, Yang YX, Long YH, Yang SW, Hu Y, Gai ZC, Wu JW, Liu HM. Functional and expression characteristics identification of Phormicins, novel AMPs from Musca domestica with anti-MRSA biofilm activity, in response to different stimuli. Int J Biol Macromol 2022; 209:299-314. [PMID: 35381282 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.03.204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Revised: 03/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria (including MRSA) in the clinic pose a growing threat to public health, and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have great potential as efficient treatment alternatives. Houseflies have evolved over long periods in complex, dirty environments, developing a special immune system to overcome challenges in harmful environments. AMPs are key innate immune molecules. Herein, two differentially expressed AMPs, Phormicins A and B, were identified by screening transcriptomic changes in response to microbial stimulation. Structural mimic assays indicated that these AMPs exhibited functional divergence due to their C-terminal features. Expression analysis showed that they had different expression patterns. Phormicin B had higher constitutive expression than Phormicin A. However, Phormicin B was sharply downregulated, whereas Phormicin A was highly upregulated, after microbial stimulation. The MIC, MBC and time-growth curves showed the antibacterial spectrum of these peptides. Crystal violet staining and SEM showed that Phormicin D inhibited MRSA biofilm formation. TEM suggested that Phormicin D disrupted the MRSA cell membrane. Furthermore, Phormicin D inhibited biofilm formation by downregulating the expression of biofilm-related genes, including altE and embp. Therefore, housefly Phormicins were functionally characterized as having differential expression patterns and antibacterial & antibiofilm activities. This study provides a new potential peptide for clinical MRSA therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bing Wang
- Engineering Research Center of Medical Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Infectious Immune and Antibody Engineering of Guizhou Province, Immune Cells and Antibody Engineering Research Center of Guizhou Province, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, Guizhou, China; School of Biology and Engineering, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550025, Guizhou, China; Key Laboratory of Microbiology and Parasitology of Education Department of Guizhou, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, Guizhou, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, China Ministry of Education (Guizhou Medical University), Guiyang 550025, Guizhou, China.
| | - Peng-Wei Wei
- Engineering Research Center of Medical Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Infectious Immune and Antibody Engineering of Guizhou Province, Immune Cells and Antibody Engineering Research Center of Guizhou Province, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, Guizhou, China
| | - Yang Yao
- Engineering Research Center of Medical Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Infectious Immune and Antibody Engineering of Guizhou Province, Immune Cells and Antibody Engineering Research Center of Guizhou Province, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, Guizhou, China
| | - Chao-Rong Song
- Engineering Research Center of Medical Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Infectious Immune and Antibody Engineering of Guizhou Province, Immune Cells and Antibody Engineering Research Center of Guizhou Province, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, Guizhou, China; School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, Guizhou, China
| | - Xu Wang
- Engineering Research Center of Medical Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Infectious Immune and Antibody Engineering of Guizhou Province, Immune Cells and Antibody Engineering Research Center of Guizhou Province, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, Guizhou, China; School of Biology and Engineering, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550025, Guizhou, China
| | - Yong-Xin Yang
- Engineering Research Center of Medical Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Infectious Immune and Antibody Engineering of Guizhou Province, Immune Cells and Antibody Engineering Research Center of Guizhou Province, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, Guizhou, China; School of Biology and Engineering, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550025, Guizhou, China
| | - Yao-Hang Long
- Engineering Research Center of Medical Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Infectious Immune and Antibody Engineering of Guizhou Province, Immune Cells and Antibody Engineering Research Center of Guizhou Province, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, Guizhou, China; School of Biology and Engineering, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550025, Guizhou, China
| | - Su-Wen Yang
- Engineering Research Center of Medical Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Infectious Immune and Antibody Engineering of Guizhou Province, Immune Cells and Antibody Engineering Research Center of Guizhou Province, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, Guizhou, China
| | - Yong Hu
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, China Ministry of Education (Guizhou Medical University), Guiyang 550025, Guizhou, China
| | - Zhong-Chao Gai
- Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xiaan, Shaanxi 710021, China.
| | - Jian-Wei Wu
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, Guizhou, China.
| | - Hong-Mei Liu
- Engineering Research Center of Medical Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Infectious Immune and Antibody Engineering of Guizhou Province, Immune Cells and Antibody Engineering Research Center of Guizhou Province, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, Guizhou, China; School of Biology and Engineering, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550025, Guizhou, China; School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, Guizhou, China.
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Al Kashgry NAT, Abulreesh HH, El-Sheikh IA, Almaroai YA, Salem R, Mohamed I, Waly FR, Osman G, Mohamed MSM. Utilization of a recombinant defensin from Maize (Zea mays L.) as a potential antimicrobial peptide. AMB Express 2020; 10:208. [PMID: 33237335 PMCID: PMC7688885 DOI: 10.1186/s13568-020-01146-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Accepted: 11/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The search for effective and bioactive antimicrobial molecules to encounter the medical need for new antibiotics is an encouraging area of research. Plant defensins are small cationic, cysteine-rich peptides with a stabilized tertiary structure by disulfide-bridges and characterized by a wide range of biological functions. The heterologous expression of Egyptian maize defensin (MzDef) in Escherichia coli and subsequent purification by glutathione affinity chromatography yielded 2 mg/L of recombinant defensin peptide. The glutathione-S-transferase (GST)-tagged MzDef of approximately 30 kDa in size (26 KDa GST + ~ 4 KDa MzDef peptide) was immunodetected with anti-GST antibodies. The GST-tag was successfully cleaved from the MzDef peptide by thrombin, and the removal was validated by the Tris-Tricine gel electrophoresis. The MzDef induced strong growth inhibition of Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium verticillioides, and Aspergillus niger by 94.23%, 93.34%, and 86.25%, respectively, whereas relatively weak growth inhibitory activity of 35.42% against Fusarium solani was recorded. Moreover, strong antibacterial activities were demonstrated against E. coli and Bacillus cereus and the moderate activities against Salmonella enterica and Staphylococcus aureus at all tested concentrations (0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.6, and 3.2 µM). Furthermore, the in vitro MTT assay exhibited promising anticancer activity against all tested cell lines (hepatocellular carcinoma, mammary gland breast cancer, and colorectal carcinoma colon cancer) with IC50 values ranging from 14.85 to 29.85 µg/mL. These results suggest that the recombinant peptide MzDef may serve as a potential alternative antimicrobial and anticancer agent to be used in medicinal application.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Hussein H Abulreesh
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Applied Science, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
- Research Laboratories Center, Faculty of Applied Science, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Iman A El-Sheikh
- Biology Department, College of Science, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia
- Research Laboratories Center, Faculty of Applied Science, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Yaser A Almaroai
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Applied Science, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
- Research Laboratories Center, Faculty of Applied Science, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Reda Salem
- Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute (AGERI), ARC, Giza, 12619, Egypt.
| | - Ismail Mohamed
- Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute (AGERI), ARC, Giza, 12619, Egypt
| | - Fatma R Waly
- Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute (AGERI), ARC, Giza, 12619, Egypt
| | - Gamal Osman
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Applied Science, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
- Research Laboratories Center, Faculty of Applied Science, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
- Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute (AGERI), ARC, Giza, 12619, Egypt
| | - Mahmoud S M Mohamed
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, 12613, Egypt
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Rodríguez-Decuadro S, da Rosa G, Radío S, Barraco-Vega M, Benko-Iseppon AM, Dans PD, Smircich P, Cecchetto G. Antimicrobial peptides in the seedling transcriptome of the tree legume Peltophorum dubium. Biochimie 2020; 180:229-242. [PMID: 33197551 DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2020.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2020] [Revised: 09/14/2020] [Accepted: 11/03/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) play an essential role in plant defense against invading pathogens. Due to their biological properties, these molecules have been considered useful for drug development, as novel agents in disease therapeutics, applicable to both agriculture and medicine. New technologies of massive sequencing open opportunities to discover novel AMP encoding genes in wild plant species. This work aimed to identify cysteine-rich AMPs from Peltophorum dubium, a legume tree from South America. We performed whole-transcriptome sequencing of P. dubium seedlings followed by de novo transcriptome assembly, uncovering 78 AMP transcripts classified into five families: hevein-like, lipid-transfer proteins (LTPs), alpha hairpinins, defensins, and snakin/GASA (Giberellic Acid Stimulated in Arabidopsis) peptides. No transcripts with similarity to cyclotide or thionin genes were identified. Genomic DNA analysis by PCR confirmed the presence of 18 genes encoding six putative defensins and 12 snakin/GASA peptides and allowed the characterization of their exon-intron structure. The present work demonstrates that AMP prediction from a wild species is possible using RNA sequencing and de novo transcriptome assembly, regarding a starting point for studies focused on AMP gene evolution and expression. Moreover, this study allowed the detection of strong AMP candidates for drug development and novel biotechnological products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susana Rodríguez-Decuadro
- Departamento de Biología Vegetal, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de la República, Garzón 780, Montevideo 12900, Uruguay.
| | - Gabriela da Rosa
- Departamento de Biociencias, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, General Flores 2124, Montevideo 11800, Uruguay.
| | - Santiago Radío
- Departamento de Genómica, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable. MEC - Laboratorio de Interacciones Moleculares, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá 4225, Montevideo, 11400, Uruguay.
| | - Mariana Barraco-Vega
- Departamento de Biociencias, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, General Flores 2124, Montevideo 11800, Uruguay.
| | - Ana Maria Benko-Iseppon
- Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Centro de Biociências, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, 1235. CEP 50.670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil.
| | - Pablo D Dans
- Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, CENUR Litoral Norte, Universidad de la República. General Fructuoso Rivera 1350, Laboratorio Genética Funcional, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo. Mataojo 2020, Salto 50000, Montevideo, 11400, Uruguay.
| | - Pablo Smircich
- Departamento de Genómica, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable. MEC - Laboratorio de Interacciones Moleculares, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá 4225, Montevideo, 11400, Uruguay.
| | - Gianna Cecchetto
- Departamento de Biociencias, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, General Flores 2124, Montevideo 11800, Uruguay; Instituto de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias - Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, General Flores 2124, Montevideo, 11800, Uruguay.
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Dos Santos-Silva CA, Zupin L, Oliveira-Lima M, Vilela LMB, Bezerra-Neto JP, Ferreira-Neto JR, Ferreira JDC, de Oliveira-Silva RL, Pires CDJ, Aburjaile FF, de Oliveira MF, Kido EA, Crovella S, Benko-Iseppon AM. Plant Antimicrobial Peptides: State of the Art, In Silico Prediction and Perspectives in the Omics Era. Bioinform Biol Insights 2020; 14:1177932220952739. [PMID: 32952397 PMCID: PMC7476358 DOI: 10.1177/1177932220952739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2020] [Accepted: 07/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Even before the perception or interaction with pathogens, plants rely on constitutively guardian molecules, often specific to tissue or stage, with further expression after contact with the pathogen. These guardians include small molecules as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), generally cysteine-rich, functioning to prevent pathogen establishment. Some of these AMPs are shared among eukaryotes (eg, defensins and cyclotides), others are plant specific (eg, snakins), while some are specific to certain plant families (such as heveins). When compared with other organisms, plants tend to present a higher amount of AMP isoforms due to gene duplications or polyploidy, an occurrence possibly also associated with the sessile habit of plants, which prevents them from evading biotic and environmental stresses. Therefore, plants arise as a rich resource for new AMPs. As these molecules are difficult to retrieve from databases using simple sequence alignments, a description of their characteristics and in silico (bioinformatics) approaches used to retrieve them is provided, considering resources and databases available. The possibilities and applications based on tools versus database approaches are considerable and have been so far underestimated.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Luisa Zupin
- Genetic Immunology laboratory, Institute for Maternal and Child Health-IRCCS, Burlo Garofolo, Trieste, Italy
| | - Marx Oliveira-Lima
- Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
| | | | | | | | - José Diogo Cavalcanti Ferreira
- Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil.,Departamento de Genética, Instituto Federal de Pernambuco, Pesqueira, Brazil
| | | | | | | | | | - Ederson Akio Kido
- Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
| | - Sergio Crovella
- Genetic Immunology laboratory, Institute for Maternal and Child Health-IRCCS, Burlo Garofolo, Trieste, Italy.,Department of Medicine, Surgery and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
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Plant Defensins from a Structural Perspective. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21155307. [PMID: 32722628 PMCID: PMC7432377 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21155307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2020] [Revised: 07/20/2020] [Accepted: 07/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Plant defensins form a family of proteins with a broad spectrum of protective activities against fungi, bacteria, and insects. Furthermore, some plant defensins have revealed anticancer activity. In general, plant defensins are non-toxic to plant and mammalian cells, and interest in using them for biotechnological and medicinal purposes is growing. Recent studies provided significant insights into the mechanisms of action of plant defensins. In this review, we focus on structural and dynamics aspects and discuss structure-dynamics-function relations of plant defensins.
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