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Barashkova AS, Smirnov AN, Rogozhin EA. Complex of Defense Polypeptides of Wheatgrass ( Elytrigia elongata) Associated with Plant Immunity to Biotic and Abiotic Stress Factors. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2024; 13:2459. [PMID: 39273943 PMCID: PMC11396971 DOI: 10.3390/plants13172459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2024] [Revised: 08/19/2024] [Accepted: 08/26/2024] [Indexed: 09/15/2024]
Abstract
Plant defense polypeptides play a crucial role in providing plants with constitutive immunity against various biotic and abiotic stressors. In this study, we explored a complex of proteins from wheatgrass (Elytrigia elongata) spikelets to estimate their role in the plant's tolerance to various environmental factors. The current research shows that in vitro protein extracts from E. elongata spikelets possess antifungal activity against certain Fusarium species, which are specific cereal pathogens, at concentrations of 1-2 mg/mL. In this study, we reproduced these antifungal activities using a 4 mg/mL extract in artificial fungal infection experiments on wheat grain (Triticum aestivum) under controlled laboratory conditions. Furthermore, the tested extract demonstrated a protective effect on Saccharomyces cerevisiae exposed to hyper-salinity stress at a concentration of 2 mg/mL. A combined scheme of fractionation and structural identification was applied for the estimation of the diversity of defense polypeptides. Defensins, lipid-transfer proteins, hydrolase inhibitors (cereal bifunctional trypsin/alpha-amylase inhibitors from a Bowman-Birk trypsin inhibitor), and high-molecular-weight disease resistance proteins were isolated from the extract. Thus, wheatgrass spikelets appear to be a reservoir of defense polypeptides. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of plant defense proteins and peptides and their involvement in the adaptation to various stress factors, and they reveal the regulatory effect at the ecosystem level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna S Barashkova
- Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia
- All-Russian Institute of Plant Protection, 196608 Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Alexey N Smirnov
- Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Agrobiotechnology, Timiryazev Russian State Agrarian University, 127550 Moscow, Russia
| | - Eugene A Rogozhin
- Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia
- All-Russian Institute of Plant Protection, 196608 Saint Petersburg, Russia
- Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters, Russian Academy of Sciences, 152742 Borok, Russia
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2
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Efremenko E, Stepanov N, Senko O, Maslova O, Lyagin I, Domnin M, Aslanli A. "Stop, Little Pot" as the Motto of Suppressive Management of Various Microbial Consortia. Microorganisms 2024; 12:1650. [PMID: 39203492 PMCID: PMC11356704 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12081650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2024] [Revised: 08/07/2024] [Accepted: 08/10/2024] [Indexed: 09/03/2024] Open
Abstract
The unresolved challenges in the development of highly efficient, stable and controlled synthetic microbial consortia, as well as the use of natural consortia, are very attractive for science and technology. However, the consortia management should be done with the knowledge of how not only to accelerate but also stop the action of such "little pots". Moreover, there are a lot of microbial consortia, the activity of which should be suppressively controlled. The processes, catalyzed by various microorganisms being in complex consortia which should be slowed down or completely cancelled, are typical for the environment (biocorrosion, landfill gas accumulation, biodegradation of building materials, water sources deterioration etc.), industry (food and biotechnological production), medical practice (vaginitis, cystitis, intestinal dysbiosis, etc.). The search for ways to suppress the functioning of heterogeneous consortia in each of these areas is relevant. The purpose of this review is to summarize the general trends in these studies regarding the targets and new means of influence used. The analysis of the features of the applied approaches to solving the main problem confirms the possibility of obtaining a combined effect, as well as selective influence on individual components of the consortia. Of particular interest is the role of viruses in suppressing the functioning of microbial consortia of different compositions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Efremenko
- Faculty of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Lenin Hills 1/3, Moscow 119991, Russia (O.S.)
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Jaikishan S, Lavainne M, Ravald HK, Scobbie K, Dusa F, Maheswari R, Turpeinen J, Eikemans I, Chen R, Rantala J, Aseyev V, Maier NN, Wiedmer SK. Fragment-based approach to study fungicide-biomimetic membrane interactions. SOFT MATTER 2024. [PMID: 39012330 DOI: 10.1039/d4sm00648h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/17/2024]
Abstract
In this study, the molecular interactions of the allylamine-type fungicide butenafine and a set of substructures ("fragments") with liposomes mimicking biological membranes were studied to gain a better understanding of the structural factors governing membrane affinity and perturbation. Specifically, drug/fragment-membrane interactions were investigated using an interdisciplinary approach involving micro differential scanning calorimetry, open-tubular capillary electrochromatography, nanoplasmonic sensing, and quartz crystal microbalance. By incubating the drug and the fragment compounds with liposomes with varying lipid composition or by externally adding the compounds to preformed liposomes, a detailed mechanistic picture on the underlying drug/fragment-membrane interactions was obtained. The nature and the degree of ionisation of polar head groups of the lipids had a major influence on the nature of drug-membrane interactions, and so had the presence and relative concentration of cholesterol within the membranes. The in-depth understanding of drug/fragment-membranes interactions established by the presented interdisciplinary fragment-based approach may be useful in guiding the design and early-stage evaluation of prospective antifungal drug candidates, and the discovery of agents with improved membrane penetrating characteristics in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shishir Jaikishan
- Department of Chemistry, A.I. Virtasen aukio 1, POB 55, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Marine Lavainne
- Department of Chemistry, A.I. Virtasen aukio 1, POB 55, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Henri K Ravald
- Department of Chemistry, A.I. Virtasen aukio 1, POB 55, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Kieran Scobbie
- Department of Chemistry, A.I. Virtasen aukio 1, POB 55, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Filip Dusa
- Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Veveří 97, Brno 60200, Czech Republic
| | - Rekha Maheswari
- Department of Chemistry, A.I. Virtasen aukio 1, POB 55, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Jenni Turpeinen
- Department of Chemistry, A.I. Virtasen aukio 1, POB 55, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Ian Eikemans
- Department of Chemistry, A.I. Virtasen aukio 1, POB 55, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Rui Chen
- Department of Chemistry, A.I. Virtasen aukio 1, POB 55, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Julia Rantala
- Department of Chemistry, A.I. Virtasen aukio 1, POB 55, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Vladimir Aseyev
- Department of Chemistry, A.I. Virtasen aukio 1, POB 55, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Norbert N Maier
- Department of Chemistry, A.I. Virtasen aukio 1, POB 55, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Susanne K Wiedmer
- Department of Chemistry, A.I. Virtasen aukio 1, POB 55, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
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Uronnachi E, Nakpheng T, Gugu T, Srichana T. Formulation and Antimycotic Evaluation of Colloidal Itraconazole-Loaded Metered Dose Sprays for Treating Superficial Mycoses. AAPS PharmSciTech 2024; 25:156. [PMID: 38981986 DOI: 10.1208/s12249-024-02879-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2024] [Accepted: 06/21/2024] [Indexed: 07/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Commercial topical formulations containing itraconazole (poorly water soluble), for mycotic infections, have poor penetration to infection sites beneath the nails and skin thereby necessitating oral administration. To improve penetration, colloidal solutions of itraconazole (G1-G4) containing Poloxamer 188, tween 80, ethanol, and propylene glycol were prepared and incorporated into HFA-134-containing sprays. Formulations were characterized using particle size, drug content, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). In vitro permeation studies were performed using Franz diffusion cells for 8 h. Antimycotic activity on Candida albicans and Trichophyton rubrum was performed using broth micro-dilution and flow cytometry, while cytotoxicity was tested on HaCaT cell lines. Particle size ranged from 39.35-116.80 nm. FTIR and drug content revealed that G1 was the most stable formulation (optimized formulation). In vitro release over 2 h was 45% for G1 and 34% for the cream. There was a twofold increase in skin permeation, fivefold intradermal retention, and a sevenfold increase in nail penetration of G1 over the cream. Minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFC) against C. albicans were 0.156 and 0.313 µg/mL for G1 and cream, respectively. The formulations showed optimum killing kinetics after 48 h. MFC values against T. rubrum were 0.312 and 0.625 µg/mL for the G1 and cream, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy revealed organelle destruction and cell leakage for G1 in both organisms and penetration of keratin layers to destroy T. rubrum. Cytotoxicity evaluation of G1 showed relative safety for skin cells. The G1 formulation showed superior skin permeation, nail penetration, and fungicidal activity compared with the cream formulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emmanuel Uronnachi
- Drug Delivery Systems Excellence Center and Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, 90112, Songkhla, Thailand
- Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Agulu, Anambra State, Nigeria
| | - Titpawan Nakpheng
- Drug Delivery Systems Excellence Center and Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, 90112, Songkhla, Thailand
| | - Thaddeus Gugu
- Drug Delivery Systems Excellence Center and Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, 90112, Songkhla, Thailand
- Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria
| | - Teerapol Srichana
- Drug Delivery Systems Excellence Center and Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, 90112, Songkhla, Thailand.
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Nazareth TDM, Soriano Pérez E, Luz C, Meca G, Quiles JM. Comprehensive Review of Aflatoxin and Ochratoxin A Dynamics: Emergence, Toxicological Impact, and Advanced Control Strategies. Foods 2024; 13:1920. [PMID: 38928866 PMCID: PMC11203094 DOI: 10.3390/foods13121920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2024] [Revised: 05/27/2024] [Accepted: 06/15/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Filamentous fungi exhibit remarkable adaptability to diverse substrates and can synthesize a plethora of secondary metabolites. These metabolites, produced in response to environmental stimuli, not only confer selective advantages but also encompass potentially deleterious mycotoxins. Mycotoxins, exemplified by those originating from Alternaria, Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Fusarium species, represent challenging hazards to both human and animal health, thus warranting stringent regulatory control. Despite regulatory frameworks, mycotoxin contamination remains a pressing global challenge, particularly within cereal-based matrices and their derived by-products, integral components of animal diets. Strategies aimed at mitigating mycotoxin contamination encompass multifaceted approaches, including biological control modalities, detoxification procedures, and innovative interventions like essential oils. However, hurdles persist, underscoring the imperative for innovative interventions. This review elucidated the prevalence, health ramifications, regulatory paradigms, and evolving preventive strategies about two prominent mycotoxins, aflatoxins and ochratoxin A. Furthermore, it explored the emergence of new fungal species, and biocontrol methods using lactic acid bacteria and essential mustard oil, emphasizing their efficacy in mitigating fungal spoilage and mycotoxin production. Through an integrative examination of these facets, this review endeavored to furnish a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted challenges posed by mycotoxin contamination and the emergent strategies poised to ameliorate its impact on food and feed safety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiago de Melo Nazareth
- Laboratory of Food Chemistry and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Valencia, Av. Vicent Andrés Estellés s/n, 46100 Burjassot, Spain; (E.S.P.); (C.L.); (G.M.); (J.M.Q.)
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Fan L, Wei Y, Chen Y, Ouaziz M, Jiang S, Xu F, Wang H, Shao X. Transcriptome analysis reveals the mechanism of antifungal peptide epinecidin-1 against Botrytis cinerea by mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress. PESTICIDE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY 2024; 202:105932. [PMID: 38879298 DOI: 10.1016/j.pestbp.2024.105932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2024] [Revised: 04/20/2024] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 06/19/2024]
Abstract
The marine antifungal peptide epinecidin-1 (EPI) have been shown to inhibit Botrytis cinerea growth, while the molecular mechanism have not been explored based on omics technology. This study aimed to investigate the molecular mechanism of EPI against B. cinerea by transcriptome technology. Our findings indicated that a total of 1671 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected in the mycelium of B. cinerea treated with 12.5 μmol/L EPI for 3 h, including 773 up-regulated genes and 898 down-regulated genes. Cluster analysis showed that DEGs (including steroid biosynthesis, (unsaturated) fatty acid biosynthesis) related to cell membrane metabolism were significantly down-regulated, and almost all DEGs involved in DNA replication were significantly inhibited. In addition, it also induced the activation of stress-related pathways, such as the antioxidant system, ATP-binding cassette transporter (ABC) and MAPK signaling pathways, and interfered with the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and oxidative phosphorylation pathways related to mitochondrial function. The decrease of mitochondrial related enzyme activities (succinate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase and adenosine triphosphatase), the decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential and the increase content of hydrogen peroxide further confirmed that EPI treatment may lead to mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress. Based on this, we speculated that EPI may impede the growth of B. cinerea through its influence on gene expression, and may lead to mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Fan
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Intelligent Food Logistic and Processing, Zhejiang-Malaysia Joint Research Laboratory for Agricultural Product Processing and Nutrition, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315800, China; College of Biological Environment, JiYang College of Zhejiang A&F University, Zhuji 311800, China
| | - Yingying Wei
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Intelligent Food Logistic and Processing, Zhejiang-Malaysia Joint Research Laboratory for Agricultural Product Processing and Nutrition, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315800, China
| | - Yi Chen
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Intelligent Food Logistic and Processing, Zhejiang-Malaysia Joint Research Laboratory for Agricultural Product Processing and Nutrition, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315800, China
| | - Meriem Ouaziz
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Intelligent Food Logistic and Processing, Zhejiang-Malaysia Joint Research Laboratory for Agricultural Product Processing and Nutrition, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315800, China
| | - Shu Jiang
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Intelligent Food Logistic and Processing, Zhejiang-Malaysia Joint Research Laboratory for Agricultural Product Processing and Nutrition, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315800, China
| | - Feng Xu
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Intelligent Food Logistic and Processing, Zhejiang-Malaysia Joint Research Laboratory for Agricultural Product Processing and Nutrition, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315800, China
| | - Hongfei Wang
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Intelligent Food Logistic and Processing, Zhejiang-Malaysia Joint Research Laboratory for Agricultural Product Processing and Nutrition, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315800, China
| | - Xingfeng Shao
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Intelligent Food Logistic and Processing, Zhejiang-Malaysia Joint Research Laboratory for Agricultural Product Processing and Nutrition, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315800, China.
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7
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Shaban S, Patel M, Ahmad A. Antifungal activity of human antimicrobial peptides targeting apoptosis in Candida auris. J Med Microbiol 2024; 73. [PMID: 38743468 DOI: 10.1099/jmm.0.001835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction. Innovative antifungal therapies are of crucial importance to combat the potentially life-threatening infections linked to the multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen Candida auris. Induction of regulated cell death, apoptosis, could provide an outline for future therapeutics. Human antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), well-known antifungal compounds, have shown the ability to induce apoptosis in pathogenic fungi.Hypothesis/Gap Statement . Although it is known that AMPs possess antifungal activity against C. auris, their ability to induce apoptosis requires further investigations.Aim. This study evaluated the effects of AMPs on the induction of apoptosis in C. auris.Methods. Human neutrophil peptide-1 (HNP-1), human β-Defensins-3 (hBD-3) and human salivary histatin 5 (His 5) were assessed against two clinical C. auris isolates. Apoptosis hallmarks were examined using FITC-Annexin V/PI double labelling assay and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase deoxynucleotidyl transferase nick-end labelling (TUNEL) to detect phosphatidylserine externalization and DNA fragmentation, respectively. Then, several intracellular triggers were studied using JC-10 staining, spectrophotometric assay and 2',7'-dichlorofluorescin diacetate staining to measure the mitochondrial membrane potential, cytochrome-c release and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, respectively.Results and conclusion. FITC-Annexin V/PI staining and TUNEL analysis revealed that exposure of C. auris cells to HNP-1 and hBD-3 triggered both early and late apoptosis, while His 5 caused significant necrosis. Furthermore, HNP-1 and hBD-3 induced significant mitochondrial membrane depolarization, which resulted in substantial cytochrome c release. In contrast to His 5, which showed minimal mitochondrial depolarization and no cytochrome c release. At last, all peptides significantly increased ROS production, which is related to both types of cell death. Therefore, these peptides represent promising and effective antifungal agents for treating invasive infections caused by multidrug-resistant C. auris.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siham Shaban
- Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
| | - Mrudula Patel
- Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
- Division of Infection Control, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Aijaz Ahmad
- Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
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Chiramba C, Möller DS, Lorenz CD, Chirombo RR, Mason AJ, Bester MJ, Gaspar ARM. Tryptophan End-Tagging Confers Antifungal Activity on a Tick-Derived Peptide by Triggering Reactive Oxygen Species Production. ACS OMEGA 2024; 9:15556-15572. [PMID: 38585074 PMCID: PMC10993377 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.4c00478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2024] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
WHO has identified several Candida species including Candida albicans as critical priority fungal pathogens due to greater infection prevalence and formation of recalcitrant biofilms. Novel antifungal agents are urgently needed, and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are being considered as potential alternatives, but inactivity in physiological salt environments, serum, and plasma often limits further therapeutic development. Tryptophan end-tagging is a strategy to overcome these limitations and is thought to selectively enhance membrane permeabilization in both fungal and bacterial plasma membranes. Here, we show that C-terminal tryptophan end-tagging of the tick-derived peptide Os-C transforms an inactive peptide into Os-C(W5), an antifungal peptide capable of preventing the formation of C. albicans biofilms. Mechanistic insight is provided by circular dichroism spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations, which demonstrate that tryptophan end-tagging alters the secondary structure of Os-C, while the latter reveals that end-tagging reduces interactions with, and insertion into, a model C. albicans membrane but promotes peptide aggregation on its surface. Interestingly, this leads to the induction of reactive oxygen species production rather than membrane permeabilization, and consequently, oxidative stress leads to cell wall damage. Os-C(W5) does not induce the hemolysis of human erythrocytes. Reduced cell adhesion and viability contribute to decreased biofilm extracellular matrix formation which, although reduced, is retained in the serum-containing medium. In this study, tryptophan end-tagging was identified as a promising strategy for enhancing the antifungal activity, including the biofilm inhibitory activity of Os-C against C. albicans in physiological salt environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Court
K. Chiramba
- Department
of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Natural and
Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
| | - Dalton S. Möller
- Department
of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Natural and
Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
| | | | - Rumbidzai R. Chirombo
- Department
of Anatomy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
| | - A. James Mason
- Institute
of Pharmaceutical Science, School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Science, King’s College London, London SE1 9NH, U.K.
| | - Megan J. Bester
- Department
of Anatomy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
| | - Anabella R. M. Gaspar
- Department
of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Natural and
Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
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Li H, Kalunke R, Tetorya M, Czymmek KJ, Shah DM. Modes of action and potential as a peptide-based biofungicide of a plant defensin MtDef4. MOLECULAR PLANT PATHOLOGY 2024; 25:e13458. [PMID: 38619888 PMCID: PMC11018249 DOI: 10.1111/mpp.13458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Revised: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/17/2024]
Abstract
Due to rapidly emerging resistance to single-site fungicides in fungal pathogens of plants, there is a burgeoning need for safe and multisite fungicides. Plant antifungal peptides with multisite modes of action (MoA) have potential as bioinspired fungicides. Medicago truncatula defensin MtDef4 was previously reported to exhibit potent antifungal activity against fungal pathogens. Its MoA involves plasma membrane disruption and binding to intracellular targets. However, specific biochemical processes inhibited by this defensin and causing cell death have not been determined. Here, we show that MtDef4 exhibited potent antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea. It induced severe plasma membrane and organelle irregularities in the germlings of this pathogen. It bound to fungal ribosomes and inhibited protein translation in vitro. A MtDef4 variant lacking antifungal activity exhibited greatly reduced protein translation inhibitory activity. A cation-tolerant MtDef4 variant was generated that bound to β-glucan of the fungal cell wall with higher affinity than MtDef4. It also conferred a greater reduction in the grey mould disease symptoms than MtDef4 when applied exogenously on Nicotiana benthamiana plants, tomato fruits and rose petals. Our findings revealed inhibition of protein synthesis as a likely target of MtDef4 and the potential of its cation-tolerant variant as a peptide-based fungicide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Li
- Donald Danforth Plant Science CenterSt. LouisMissouriUSA
| | | | | | - Kirk J. Czymmek
- Donald Danforth Plant Science CenterSt. LouisMissouriUSA
- Advanced Bioimaging LaboratoryDonald Danforth Plant Science CenterSt. LouisMissouriUSA
| | - Dilip M. Shah
- Donald Danforth Plant Science CenterSt. LouisMissouriUSA
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10
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Váradi G, Bende G, Borics A, Dán K, Rákhely G, Tóth GK, Galgóczy L. Rational Design of Antifungal Peptides Based on the γ-Core Motif of a Neosartorya ( Aspergillus) fischeri Antifungal Protein to Improve Structural Integrity, Efficacy, and Spectrum. ACS OMEGA 2024; 9:7206-7214. [PMID: 38371770 PMCID: PMC10870298 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c09377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2023] [Revised: 01/17/2024] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
Antifungal peptides offer promising alternative compounds for the treatment of fungal infections, for which new antifungal compounds are urgently needed. Constant and broad antifungal spectra of these peptides play essential roles in their reliable therapeutic application. It has been observed that rationally designed peptides using the evolutionarily conserved γ-core region (GXC-X3-9-C) of an antifungal protein from Neosartorya (Aspergillus) fischeri highly inhibit the growth of fungi. The cysteines in these peptides have free sulfhydryl groups, which allow cyclization and dimerization under oxidative conditions, thereby impairing antifungal efficacy. To overcome this problem, one or two cysteine residues were substituted by serines or S-tert-butyl was applied as a cysteine-protecting group. Furthermore, structural integrity and antifungal efficacy investigations before and after oxidative exposure revealed that substituting both cysteines with serines and S-tert-butylation helped maintain the structural integrity. However, it slightly decreased the antifungal efficacy against a yeast, Candida albicans. Interestingly, S-tert-butylation maintained the efficacy and could extend the antifungal activity to a mold, Aspergillus fumigatus. Usually, cyclization and dimerization did not influence the antifungal efficacy of most peptides. Additionally, hemolysis tests and Galleria mellonella toxicity model experiments indicated that none of the applied modifications made the peptides harmful to animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Györgyi Váradi
- Department
of Medical Chemistry, University of Szeged, Szeged 6720, Hungary
| | - Gábor Bende
- Department
of Biotechnology, University of Szeged, Szeged 6726, Hungary
- Doctoral
School of Biology, University of Szeged, Szeged 6720, Hungary
| | - Attila Borics
- Institute
of Biochemistry, HUN-REN Biological Research
Centre, Szeged 6726, Hungary
| | - Kinga Dán
- Department
of Biotechnology, University of Szeged, Szeged 6726, Hungary
- Doctoral
School of Biology, University of Szeged, Szeged 6720, Hungary
| | - Gábor Rákhely
- Department
of Biotechnology, University of Szeged, Szeged 6726, Hungary
- Institute
of Biophysics, HUN-REN Biological Research
Centre, Szeged 6726, Hungary
| | - Gábor K. Tóth
- Department
of Medical Chemistry, University of Szeged, Szeged 6720, Hungary
- MTA-SZTE
Biomimetic Systems Research Group, University
of Szeged, Szeged 6720, Hungary
| | - László Galgóczy
- Department
of Biotechnology, University of Szeged, Szeged 6726, Hungary
- Institute
of Biochemistry, HUN-REN Biological Research
Centre, Szeged 6726, Hungary
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11
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Ramesh S, Roy U, Roy S, Rudramurthy SM. A promising antifungal lipopeptide from Bacillus subtilis: its characterization and insight into the mode of action. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2024; 108:161. [PMID: 38252130 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-023-12976-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
Emerging resistance of fungal pathogens and challenges faced in drug development have prompted renewed investigations into novel antifungal lipopeptides. The antifungal lipopeptide AF3 reported here is a natural lipopeptide isolated and purified from Bacillus subtilis. The AF3 lipopeptide's secondary structure, functional groups, and the presence of amino acid residues typical of lipopeptides were determined by circular dichroism, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The lipopeptide's low minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 4-8 mg/L against several fungal strains demonstrate its strong antifungal activity. Biocompatibility assays showed that ~ 80% of mammalian cells remained viable at a 2 × MIC concentration of AF3. The treated Candida albicans cells examined by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy clearly showed ultrastructural alterations such as the loss of the cell shape and cell membrane integrity. The antifungal effect of AF3 resulted in membrane permeabilization facilitating the uptake of the fluorescent dyes-acridine orange (AO)/propidium iodide (PI) and FUN-1. Using 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) and 4-(2-[6-(dioctylamino)-2-naphthalenyl] ethenyl)-1-(3-sulfopropyl) pyridinium inner salt (di-8-ANEPPS), we observed that the binding of AF3 to the membrane bilayer results in membrane disruption and depolarization. Flow cytometry analyses revealed a direct correlation between lipopeptide activity, membrane permeabilization (~ 75% PI uptake), and reduced cell viability. An increase in 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) fluorescence demonstrates endogenous reactive oxygen species production. Lipopeptide treatment appears to induce late-stage apoptosis and alterations to nuclear morphology, suggesting that AF3-induced membrane damage may lead to a cellular stress response. Taken together, this study illustrates antifungal lipopeptide's potential as an antifungal drug candidate. KEY POINTS: • The studied lipopeptide variant AF3 displayed potent antifungal activity against C. albicans • Its biological activity was stable to proteolysis • Analytical studies demonstrated that the lipopeptide is essentially membranotropic and able to cause membrane dysfunction, elevated ROS levels, apoptosis, and DNA damage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Swetha Ramesh
- Department of Biological Sciences, BITS Pilani K.K. Birla Goa Campus, NH 17B Bypass Road, Sancoale, Goa, 403726, India
| | - Utpal Roy
- Department of Biological Sciences, BITS Pilani K.K. Birla Goa Campus, NH 17B Bypass Road, Sancoale, Goa, 403726, India.
| | - Subhasish Roy
- Department of Chemistry, BITS Pilani K.K. Birla Goa Campus, NH 17B Bypass Road, Sancoale, Goa, 403726, India
| | - Shivaprakash M Rudramurthy
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, 160012, India
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12
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Ul Haq I, Maryam S, Shyntum DY, Khan TA, Li F. Exploring the frontiers of therapeutic breadth of antifungal peptides: A new avenue in antifungal drugs. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 2024; 51:kuae018. [PMID: 38710584 PMCID: PMC11119867 DOI: 10.1093/jimb/kuae018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
The growing prevalence of fungal infections alongside rising resistance to antifungal drugs poses a significant challenge to public health safety. At the close of the 2000s, major pharmaceutical firms began to scale back on antimicrobial research due to repeated setbacks and diminished economic gains, leaving only smaller companies and research labs to pursue new antifungal solutions. Among various natural sources explored for novel antifungal compounds, antifungal peptides (AFPs) emerge as particularly promising. Despite their potential, AFPs receive less focus than their antibacterial counterparts. These peptides have been sourced extensively from nature, including plants, animals, insects, and especially bacteria and fungi. Furthermore, with advancements in recombinant biotechnology and computational biology, AFPs can also be synthesized in lab settings, facilitating peptide production. AFPs are noted for their wide-ranging efficacy, in vitro and in vivo safety, and ability to combat biofilms. They are distinguished by their high specificity, minimal toxicity to cells, and reduced likelihood of resistance development. This review aims to comprehensively cover AFPs, including their sources-both natural and synthetic-their antifungal and biofilm-fighting capabilities in laboratory and real-world settings, their action mechanisms, and the current status of AFP research. ONE-SENTENCE SUMMARY This comprehensive review of AFPs will be helpful for further research in antifungal research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ihtisham Ul Haq
- Department of Physical Chemistry and Technology of Polymers, Silesian University of Technology, M. Strzody 9, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
- Joint Doctoral School, Silesian University of Technology, Akademicka 2A, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Inovação Tecnológica, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, MG, Brazil
| | - Sajida Maryam
- Department of Physical Chemistry and Technology of Polymers, Silesian University of Technology, M. Strzody 9, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
- Joint Doctoral School, Silesian University of Technology, Akademicka 2A, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
| | - Divine Y Shyntum
- Biotechnology Centre, Silesian University of Technology, B. Krzywoustego 8, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
| | - Taj A Khan
- Division of Infectious Diseases & Global Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Institute of Pathology and Diagnostic Medicine, Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, Pakistan
| | - Fan Li
- School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
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13
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Brakel A, Grochow T, Fritsche S, Knappe D, Krizsan A, Fietz SA, Alber G, Hoffmann R, Müller U. Evaluation of proline-rich antimicrobial peptides as potential lead structures for novel antimycotics against Cryptococcus neoformans. Front Microbiol 2024; 14:1328890. [PMID: 38260890 PMCID: PMC10800876 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1328890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Cryptococcosis and cryptococcal meningitis, caused by Cryptococcus neoformans infections, lead to approximately 180,000 deaths per year, primarily in developing countries. Individuals with compromised immune systems, e.g., due to HIV infection (AIDS) or chemotherapy, are particularly vulnerable. Conventional treatment options are often limited and can cause severe side effects. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the antifungal effect of insect-derived proline-rich antimicrobial peptides (PrAMPs) against C. neoformans. These peptides are known for their low toxicity and their high efficacy in murine infection models, making them a promising alternative for treatment. Results A preliminary screening of the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 20 AMPs, including the well-known PrAMPs Onc112, Api137, and Chex1Arg20 as well as the cathelicidin CRAMP against the C. neoformans strains 1841, H99, and KN99α revealed promising results, with MICs as low as 1.6 μmol/L. Subsequent investigations of selected peptides, determining their influence on fungal colony-forming units, confirmed their strong activity. The antifungal activity was affected by factors such as peptide net charge and sequence, with stronger effects at higher net charges probably due to better intracellular uptake confirmed by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Inactive scrambled peptides suggest a specific intracellular target, although scanning electron microscopy showed that PrAMPs also damaged the cell exterior for a low proportion of the cells. Possible pore formation could facilitate entry into the cytosol.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra Brakel
- Institute of Bioanalytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Mineralogy, Bioanalytical Chemistry, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
- Center for Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Thomas Grochow
- Institute of Veterinary Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Stefanie Fritsche
- Center for Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Immunology/Molecular Pathogenesis, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Daniel Knappe
- Institute of Bioanalytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Mineralogy, Bioanalytical Chemistry, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
- Center for Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Andor Krizsan
- Institute of Bioanalytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Mineralogy, Bioanalytical Chemistry, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
- Center for Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Simone A. Fietz
- Institute of Veterinary Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Gottfried Alber
- Center for Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Immunology/Molecular Pathogenesis, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Ralf Hoffmann
- Institute of Bioanalytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Mineralogy, Bioanalytical Chemistry, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
- Center for Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Uwe Müller
- Center for Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Immunology/Molecular Pathogenesis, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
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14
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Chen M, Xiao Z, Yan C, Tang X, Fang M, Wang Z, Zhang D. Centrosomal protein of 192 kDa (Cep192) fragment possesses bactericidal and parasiticidal activities in Larimichthys crocea. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 254:127744. [PMID: 38287570 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.127744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2023] [Revised: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2024]
Abstract
A novel AMP Lc1773, derived from centrosomal protein of 192 kDa (Cep192), was isolated from Larimichthys crocea using a Bacillus subtilis system. After cDNA libraries construction, repeating selection of B. subtilis system, extraction of extracellular protein, and expression of recombinant protein, we found that B. subtilis 1773, extracellular protein, and rLc1773 had a strong potential to kill Vibrio. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus. Further analysis of the antibacterial mechanism revealed that rLc1773 not only disrupted the integrity of bacterial membrane (as confirmed by SEM, TEM, and confocal microscopy observation, and flow cytometry assays), resulting in bacterial cell membrane pore conformation, bacterial rupture, and leakage of cellular contents, but also targeted to block protein synthesis rather than damage nucleic acids (as confirmed by SDS-PAGE, enzyme expression, and gel retardation assays). In addition, rLc1773 had the ability to kill parasite Scuticociliatida in a high rate and low concentration. Critically, the antibacterial activity of rLc1773 had good thermal stability and UV radiation tolerance, but it was affected by pH 9-11 and diverse enzyme to some extent. Lc1773 had neither hemolysis on fish, shrimp, and rabbit erythrocytes,nor significant cytotoxicity. To our knowledge, Cep192 fragment was first demonstrated to possess bactericidal and parasiticidal activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meiling Chen
- Key Laboratory of Healthy Mariculture for the East China Sea, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Jimei University, Xiamen, China
| | - Zhiqun Xiao
- Key Laboratory of Healthy Mariculture for the East China Sea, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Jimei University, Xiamen, China
| | - Chunmei Yan
- Key Laboratory of Healthy Mariculture for the East China Sea, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Jimei University, Xiamen, China
| | - Xin Tang
- Key Laboratory of Healthy Mariculture for the East China Sea, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Jimei University, Xiamen, China
| | - Ming Fang
- Key Laboratory of Healthy Mariculture for the East China Sea, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Jimei University, Xiamen, China
| | - Zhiyong Wang
- Key Laboratory of Healthy Mariculture for the East China Sea, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Jimei University, Xiamen, China; Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
| | - Dongling Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Healthy Mariculture for the East China Sea, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Jimei University, Xiamen, China.
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15
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Verni M, Wang Y, Clement H, Koirala P, Rizzello CG, Coda R. Antifungal peptides from faba bean flour fermented by Levilactobacillus brevis AM7 improve the shelf-life of composite faba-wheat bread. Int J Food Microbiol 2023; 407:110403. [PMID: 37748395 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2023.110403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 09/27/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Michela Verni
- Department of Environmental Biology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Yaqin Wang
- Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Heliciane Clement
- Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Prabin Koirala
- Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Carlo Giuseppe Rizzello
- Department of Environmental Biology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy.
| | - Rossana Coda
- Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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16
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Chen SY, Chang CK, Lan CY. Antimicrobial peptide LL-37 disrupts plasma membrane and calcium homeostasis in Candida albicans via the Rim101 pathway. Microbiol Spectr 2023; 11:e0255123. [PMID: 37888991 PMCID: PMC10715129 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.02551-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Candida albicans is a major human fungal pathogen, and antimicrobial peptides are key components of innate immunity. Studying the interplay between C. albicans and human antimicrobial peptides would enhance a better understanding of pathogen-host interactions. Moreover, potential applications of antimicrobial peptides in antifungal therapy have aroused great interest. This work explores new mechanisms of LL-37 against C. albicans and reveals the complex connection among calcium homeostasis, oxidative stress, signaling, and possibly organelle interaction. Notably, these findings support the possible use of antimicrobial peptides to prevent and treat fungal infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheng-Yuan Chen
- Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Che-Kang Chang
- Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Chung-Yu Lan
- Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
- Department of Life Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
- School of Medicine, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
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17
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Ramesh S, Roy U, Roy S. The elucidation of the multimodal action of the investigational anti- Candida lipopeptide (AF 4) lead from Bacillus subtilis. Front Mol Biosci 2023; 10:1248444. [PMID: 38131013 PMCID: PMC10736182 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1248444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Candida species are the main etiological agents for candidiasis, and Candida albicans are the most common infectious species. Candida species' growing resistance to conventional therapies necessitates more research into novel antifungal agents. Antifungal peptides isolated from microorganisms have potential applications as novel therapeutics. AF4 a Bacillus-derived lipopeptide demonstrating broad-spectrum antifungal activity has been investigated for its ability to cause cell death in Candida species via membrane damage and oxidative stress. Methods: Using biophysical techniques, the secondary structure of the AF4 lipopeptide was identified. Scanning electron microscopy and confocal microscopy with fluorescent dyes were performed to visualise the effect of the lipopeptide. The membrane disruption and permeabilization were assessed using the 1,6-diphenyl hexatriene (DPH) fluorescence assay and flow cytometric (FC) assessment of propidium iodide (PI) uptake, respectively. The reactive oxygen species levels were estimated using the FC assessment. The induction of apoptosis and DNA damage were studied using Annexin V-FITC/PI and DAPI. Results: Bacillus-derived antifungal variant AF4 was found to have structural features typical of lipopeptides. Microscopy imaging revealed that AF4 damages the surface of treated cells and results in membrane permeabilization, facilitating the uptake of the fluorescent dyes. A loss of membrane integrity was observed in cells treated with AF4 due to a decrease in DPH fluorescence and a dose-dependent increase in PI uptake. Cell damage was also determined from the log reduction of viable cells treated with AF4. AF4 treatment also caused elevated ROS levels, induced phosphatidylserine externalisation, late-stage apoptosis, and alterations to nuclear morphology revealed by DAPI fluorescence. Conclusion: Collectively, the mode of action studies revealed that AF4 acts primarily on the cell membrane of C. albicans and has the potential to act as an antifungal drug candidate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Swetha Ramesh
- Department of Biological Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, K.K. Birla Goa Campus, Goa, India
| | - Utpal Roy
- Department of Chemistry, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, K.K. Birla Goa Campus, Goa, India
| | - Subhashis Roy
- Department of Chemistry, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, K.K. Birla Goa Campus, Goa, India
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18
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Kalimuthu S, Pudipeddi A, Braś G, Tanner JA, Rapala-Kozik M, Leung YY, Neelakantan P. A heptadeca amino acid peptide subunit of cathelicidin LL-37 has previously unreported antifungal activity. APMIS 2023; 131:584-600. [PMID: 37150907 DOI: 10.1111/apm.13322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Yeasts such as Candida albicans, albeit being ubiquitous members of the skin, oral and vaginal microbiome, can cause superficial to life-threatening infections. Human cathelicidin LL-37-based peptides have antibacterial activity and yet, their antifungal activity remains to be thoroughly characterized. The aim of this study was to comprehensively investigate the activity of LL-37-based peptides against C. albicans. LL-37 and its derivatives were tested for their ability to kill C. albicans planktonic cells in the presence of various biological matrices (serum, plasma, saliva and urine), that have been reported to inactivate peptides. The antibiofilm activity, resistance development and biocompatibility were investigated for the lead peptide. GK-17, a 17 amino acid peptide, showed remarkable stability to fungal aspartyl proteases and rapidly killed planktonic C. albicans despite the presence of biological matrices. GK-17 also inhibited adhesion to biotic and abiotic substrates, inhibited biofilm formation and eradicated preformed biofilms in the presence of biological matrices. Compared to nystatin, GK-17 had a lower propensity to allow for resistance development by C. albicans. The peptide showed concentration-dependent biocompatibility to red blood cells, with only 30% hemolysis even at 4× the fungicidal concentration. Taken together, GK-17 is a novel antifungal peptide with promising effects against C. albicans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shanthini Kalimuthu
- Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Akhila Pudipeddi
- Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Grażyna Braś
- Department of Comparative Biochemistry and Bioanalytics, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
| | - Julian A Tanner
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Maria Rapala-Kozik
- Department of Comparative Biochemistry and Bioanalytics, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
| | - Yiu Yan Leung
- Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong SAR
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19
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Efremenko E, Aslanli A, Stepanov N, Senko O, Maslova O. Various Biomimetics, Including Peptides as Antifungals. Biomimetics (Basel) 2023; 8:513. [PMID: 37999154 PMCID: PMC10669293 DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics8070513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2023] [Revised: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Biomimetics, which are similar to natural compounds that play an important role in the metabolism, manifestation of functional activity and reproduction of various fungi, have a pronounced attraction in the current search for new effective antifungals. Actual trends in the development of this area of research indicate that unnatural amino acids can be used as such biomimetics, including those containing halogen atoms; compounds similar to nitrogenous bases embedded in the nucleic acids synthesized by fungi; peptides imitating fungal analogs; molecules similar to natural substrates of numerous fungal enzymes and quorum-sensing signaling molecules of fungi and yeast, etc. Most parts of this review are devoted to the analysis of semi-synthetic and synthetic antifungal peptides and their targets of action. This review is aimed at combining and systematizing the current scientific information accumulating in this area of research, developing various antifungals with an assessment of the effectiveness of the created biomimetics and the possibility of combining them with other antimicrobial substances to reduce cell resistance and improve antifungal effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Efremenko
- Faculty of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Lenin Hills 1/3, Moscow 119991, Russia
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20
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Sweany RR, Cary JW, Jaynes JM, Rajasekaran K. Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobial Activity of Synthetic Peptides GV185 and GV187. PLANT DISEASE 2023; 107:3211-3221. [PMID: 36947838 DOI: 10.1094/pdis-11-22-2572-re] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Optimizing synthetic antimicrobial peptides for safe and enhanced activity against fungal and bacterial pathogens is useful for genetic engineering of plants for resistance to plant pathogens and their associated mycotoxins. Nine synthetic peptides modeled after lytic peptides tachyplesin 1, D4E1 from cecropin A, and protegrin 1 were added to germinated spores of fungal species Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus stolonifer, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum, F. verticillioides, F. graminearum, Claviceps purpurea, Verticillium dahliae, and Thielaviopsis basicola and bacterial cultures of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci and Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris at different doses and inhibitory dose response curves, and were modeled to assess antimicrobial activity. Peptides GV185 and GV187, modified from tachyplesin 1, had superior abilities to inhibit fungal and bacterial growth (50% inhibitory concentrations [IC50] ranging from 0.1 to 8.7 µM). R. stolonifer (IC50 = 8.1 µM), A. flavus (IC50 = 3.1 µM), and F. graminearum (IC50 = 2.2 µM) were less inhibited by GV185 and GV187 than all the remaining fungi (IC50 = 1.4 µM) and bacteria (IC50 = 0.1 µM). Of the remaining peptides, GV193, GV195, and GV196 (IC50 range of 0.9 to 6.6 µM) inhibited fungal growth of A. flavus, F. verticillioides, and F. graminearum less than GV185 and GV187 (IC50 range of 0.8 to 3.9 µM), followed by GV197 (IC50 range of 0.8 to 9.1 µM), whereas GV190 and GV192 inhibited poorly (IC50 range of 28.2 to 36.6 µM and 15.5 to 19.4 µM, respectively) and GV198 stimulated growth. GV185 and GV187 had slightly weaker hydrophobic and cationic residues than other tachyplesin 1 modified peptides but still had unexpectedly high lytic activity. Germinated fungal spores of R. stolonifer and F. graminearum exposed to these two peptides and D4E1 and AGM182 appeared wrinkled, with perforations near potential cytoplasmic leakage, which provided evidence of plasma membrane and cell wall lysis. We conclude that peptides GV185 and GV187 are promising candidates for genetic engineering of crops for resistance to plant-pathogenic bacteria and fungi, including A. flavus and aflatoxin contamination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca R Sweany
- Food and Feed Safety Research Unit, Southern Regional Research Center, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, New Orleans, LA 70124
| | - Jeffrey W Cary
- Food and Feed Safety Research Unit, Southern Regional Research Center, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, New Orleans, LA 70124
| | - Jesse M Jaynes
- Genvor, LLC, Dallas, TX 75240
- College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences, and College of Arts and Sciences, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL 36088
| | - Kanniah Rajasekaran
- Food and Feed Safety Research Unit, Southern Regional Research Center, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, New Orleans, LA 70124
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21
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Yao L, Zhang Y, Li W, Chung C, Guan J, Zhang W, Chiang Y, Lee T. DeepAFP: An effective computational framework for identifying antifungal peptides based on deep learning. Protein Sci 2023; 32:e4758. [PMID: 37595093 PMCID: PMC10503419 DOI: 10.1002/pro.4758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2023] [Revised: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/20/2023]
Abstract
Fungal infections have become a significant global health issue, affecting millions worldwide. Antifungal peptides (AFPs) have emerged as a promising alternative to conventional antifungal drugs due to their low toxicity and low propensity for inducing resistance. In this study, we developed a deep learning-based framework called DeepAFP to efficiently identify AFPs. DeepAFP fully leverages and mines composition information, evolutionary information, and physicochemical properties of peptides by employing combined kernels from multiple branches of convolutional neural network with bi-directional long short-term memory layers. In addition, DeepAFP integrates a transfer learning strategy to obtain efficient representations of peptides for improving model performance. DeepAFP demonstrates strong predictive ability on carefully curated datasets, yielding an accuracy of 93.29% and an F1-score of 93.45% on the DeepAFP-Main dataset. The experimental results show that DeepAFP outperforms existing AFP prediction tools, achieving state-of-the-art performance. Finally, we provide a downloadable AFP prediction tool to meet the demands of large-scale prediction and facilitate the usage of our framework by the public or other researchers. Our framework can accurately identify AFPs in a short time without requiring significant human and material resources, and hence can accelerate the development of AFPs as well as contribute to the treatment of fungal infections. Furthermore, our method can provide new perspectives for other biological sequence analysis tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lantian Yao
- Kobilka Institute of Innovative Drug Discovery, School of MedicineThe Chinese University of Hong KongShenzhenChina
- School of Science and EngineeringThe Chinese University of Hong KongShenzhenChina
| | - Yuntian Zhang
- School of MedicineThe Chinese University of Hong KongShenzhenChina
| | - Wenshuo Li
- School of Science and EngineeringThe Chinese University of Hong KongShenzhenChina
| | - Chia‐Ru Chung
- Department of Computer Science and Information EngineeringNational Central UniversityTaoyuanTaiwan
| | - Jiahui Guan
- School of MedicineThe Chinese University of Hong KongShenzhenChina
| | - Wenyang Zhang
- School of MedicineThe Chinese University of Hong KongShenzhenChina
| | - Ying‐Chih Chiang
- Kobilka Institute of Innovative Drug Discovery, School of MedicineThe Chinese University of Hong KongShenzhenChina
- School of MedicineThe Chinese University of Hong KongShenzhenChina
| | - Tzong‐Yi Lee
- Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems BiologyNational Yang Ming Chiao Tung UniversityHsinchuTaiwan
- Center for Intelligent Drug Systems and Smart Bio‐devices (IDS2B)National Yang Ming Chiao Tung UniversityHsinchuTaiwan
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22
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Muangkaew P, De Roo V, Zhou L, Girard L, Cesa-Luna C, Höfte M, De Mot R, Madder A, Geudens N, Martins JC. Stereomeric Lipopeptides from a Single Non-Ribosomal Peptide Synthetase as an Additional Source of Structural and Functional Diversification in Pseudomonas Lipopeptide Biosynthesis. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:14302. [PMID: 37762605 PMCID: PMC10531924 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241814302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Revised: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
In Pseudomonas lipopeptides, the D-configuration of amino acids is generated by dedicated, dual-function epimerization/condensation (E/C) domains. The increasing attention to stereochemistry in lipopeptide structure elucidation efforts has revealed multiple examples where epimerization does not occur, even though an E/C-type domain is present. While the origin of the idle epimerization in those E/C-domains remains elusive, epimerization activity has so far shown a binary profile: it is either 'on' (active) or 'off' (inactive). Here, we report the unprecedented observation of an E/C-domain that acts 'on and off', giving rise to the production of two diastereoisomeric lipopeptides by a single non-ribosomal peptide synthetase system. Using dereplication based on solid-phase peptide synthesis and NMR fingerprinting, we first show that the two cyclic lipopeptides produced by Pseudomonas entomophila COR5 correspond to entolysin A and B originally described for P. entomophila L48. Next, we prove that both are diastereoisomeric homologues differing only in the configuration of a single amino acid. This configurational variability is maintained in multiple Pseudomonas strains and typically occurs in a 3:2 ratio. Bioinformatic analysis reveals a possible correlation with the composition of the flanking sequence of the N-terminal secondary histidine motif characteristic for dual-function E/C-type domains. In permeabilization assays, using propidium iodide entolysin B has a higher antifungal activity compared to entolysin A against Botrytis cinerea and Pyricularia oryzae spores. The fact that configurational homologues are produced by the same NRPS system in a Pseudomonas strain adds a new level of structural and functional diversification to those already known from substrate flexibility during the recruitment of the amino acids and fatty acids and underscores the importance of complete stereochemical elucidation of non-ribosomal lipopeptide structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Penthip Muangkaew
- Organic and Biomimetic Chemistry Research Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium; (P.M.); (V.D.R.); (A.M.)
| | - Vic De Roo
- Organic and Biomimetic Chemistry Research Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium; (P.M.); (V.D.R.); (A.M.)
- NMR and Structure Analysis Unit, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Lu Zhou
- Laboratory of Phytopathology, Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium; (L.Z.); (M.H.)
| | - Léa Girard
- Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium; (L.G.); (C.C.-L.); (R.D.M.)
| | - Catherine Cesa-Luna
- Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium; (L.G.); (C.C.-L.); (R.D.M.)
| | - Monica Höfte
- Laboratory of Phytopathology, Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium; (L.Z.); (M.H.)
| | - René De Mot
- Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium; (L.G.); (C.C.-L.); (R.D.M.)
| | - Annemieke Madder
- Organic and Biomimetic Chemistry Research Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium; (P.M.); (V.D.R.); (A.M.)
| | - Niels Geudens
- NMR and Structure Analysis Unit, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - José C. Martins
- NMR and Structure Analysis Unit, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
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23
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Mehta D, Saini V, Bajaj A. Recent developments in membrane targeting antifungal agents to mitigate antifungal resistance. RSC Med Chem 2023; 14:1603-1628. [PMID: 37731690 PMCID: PMC10507810 DOI: 10.1039/d3md00151b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 06/22/2023] [Indexed: 09/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Fungal infections cause severe and life-threatening complications especially in immunocompromised individuals. Antifungals targeting cellular machinery and cell membranes including azoles are used in clinical practice to manage topical to systemic fungal infections. However, continuous exposure to clinically used antifungal agents in managing the fungal infections results in the development of multi-drug resistance via adapting different kinds of intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms. The unique chemical composition of fungal membranes presents attractive targets for antifungal drug discovery as it is difficult for fungal cells to modify the membrane targets for emergence of drug resistance. Here, we discussed available antifungal drugs with their detailed mechanism of action and described different antifungal resistance mechanisms. We further emphasized structure-activity relationship studies of membrane-targeting antifungal agents, and classified membrane-targeting antifungal agents on the basis of their core scaffold with detailed pharmacological properties. This review aims to pique the interest of potential researchers who could explore this interesting and intricate fungal realm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devashish Mehta
- Laboratory of Nanotechnology and Chemical Biology, Regional Centre for Biotechnology Faridabad-121001 Haryana India
| | - Varsha Saini
- Laboratory of Nanotechnology and Chemical Biology, Regional Centre for Biotechnology Faridabad-121001 Haryana India
| | - Avinash Bajaj
- Laboratory of Nanotechnology and Chemical Biology, Regional Centre for Biotechnology Faridabad-121001 Haryana India
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24
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Silva ML, Carneiro MN, Cavalcante RMB, Guerrero JAP, Fontenelle ROS, Lorenzón EN, Cilli EM, Carneiro VA. K-aurein: A notable aurein 1.2-derived peptide that modulates Candida albicans filamentation and reduces biofilm biomass. Amino Acids 2023; 55:1003-1012. [PMID: 37442853 DOI: 10.1007/s00726-023-03288-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023]
Abstract
Candida albicans is considered one of the most important opportunistic fungi due to the large arsenal of virulence factors that help throughout the progress of the infection. In this sense, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) appear as an alternative, with great antifungal action. Among these, aurein 1.2 has been widely explored, becoming the basis for the discovery of new AMPs, such as K-aurein (K-au). Thus, this study evaluated the anti-C. albicans potential of K-au against virulence factors, planktonic growth, and biofilm formation of clinical isolates. Firstly, K-au antifungal activity was determined by the microdilution method and time-kill curve. The inhibition of hydrolytic enzyme secretion (proteinase, phospholipase, and hemolysin) and germ tube formation was tested. Then, the antibiofilm potential of K-au was verified through biomass quantification and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). All tests were compared with the classical antifungal drug, amphotericin B (AmB). The outcomes showed fungicidal action of K-au at 62.50 µg mL-1 for all isolates, with a time of action around 150-180 min, determined by the time-kill curve. K-au-treated cells decreased by around 40% of the germinative tube compared to the control. Additionally, K-au inhibited the biofilm formation by more than 90% compared to AmB and the control group. SEM images show apparent cellular disaggregation without the formation of filamentous structures. Therefore, the findings suggest a promising anti-C. albicans effect of K-au due to its fungicidal activity against planktonic cells, or its ability to inhibit important virulence factors like germ tube and biofilm formation. Thus, this peptide could be explored as a useful compound against C. albicans-related infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Laína Silva
- Laboratory of Biofilms and Antimicrobial Agents (LaBAM), Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Ceara-UFC, Sobral, 62048-280, Brazil
| | - Maria Nágila Carneiro
- Laboratory of Biofilms and Antimicrobial Agents (LaBAM), Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Ceara-UFC, Sobral, 62048-280, Brazil
| | - Rafaela Mesquita Bastos Cavalcante
- Laboratory of Biofilms and Antimicrobial Agents (LaBAM), Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Ceara-UFC, Sobral, 62048-280, Brazil
| | - Jesús Alberto Pérez Guerrero
- Laboratory of Biofilms and Antimicrobial Agents (LaBAM), Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Ceara-UFC, Sobral, 62048-280, Brazil
| | | | | | - Eduardo Maffud Cilli
- Department of Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry, Estadual University of São Paulo-UNESP, Araraquara, 14800-900, Brazil
| | - Victor Alves Carneiro
- Laboratory of Biofilms and Antimicrobial Agents (LaBAM), Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Ceara-UFC, Sobral, 62048-280, Brazil.
- Center for Bioprospecting and Applied Molecular Experimentation (NUBEM), University Center INTA-UNINTA, Sobral, 62050-100, Brazil.
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25
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Marchese A, Balan B, Trippa DA, Bonanno F, Caruso T, Imperiale V, Marra FP, Giovino A. NGS transcriptomic analysis uncovers the possible resistance mechanisms of olive to Spilocea oleagina leaf spot infection. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1219580. [PMID: 37528972 PMCID: PMC10388255 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1219580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023]
Abstract
Spilocea oleagina is a dangerous obligate fungal pathogen of olive, feared in the Mediterranean countries, causing Peacock's eye or leaf spot infection, which can lead to a serious yield loss of approximately 20% or higher depending on climatic conditions. Coping with this disease is much more problematic for organic farms. To date, knowledge on the genetic control of possible mechanisms of resistance/low susceptibility is quite limited. In this work, comparative transcriptomic analysis (RNA-seq) was conducted in leaf tissues of a low susceptible cultivar Koroneiki and a high susceptible cultivar Nocellara del Belice, both tested in the field using the NaOH test, considering two stages-"zero sign of disease" and "evident sign of infection". Cultivars showed a very large number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in both stages. 'Koroneiki' showed an extensive hormonal crosstalk, involving Abscisic acid (ABA) and ethylene synergistically acting with Jasmonate, with early signaling of the disease and remarkable defense responses against Spilocea through the over-expression of many resistance gene analogs or pathogenesis-related (PR) genes: non-specific lipid-transfer genes (nsLTPs), LRR receptor-like serine/threonine-protein kinase genes, GDSL esterase lipase, defensin Ec-AMP-D2-like, pathogenesis-related leaf protein 6-like, Thaumatin-like gene, Mildew resistance Locus O (MLO) gene, glycine-rich protein (GRP), MADS-box genes, STH-21-like, endochitinases, glucan endo-1,3-beta-glucosidases, and finally, many proteinases. Numerous genes involved in cell wall biogenesis, remodeling, and cell wall-based defense, including lignin synthesis, were also upregulated in the resistant cultivar, indicating the possible role of wall composition in disease resistance. It was remarkable that many transcription factors (TS), some of which involved in Induced Systemic Resistance (ISR), as well as some also involved in abiotic stress response, were found to be uniquely expressed in 'Koroneiki', while 'Nocellara del Belice' was lacking an effective system of defense, expressing genes that overlap with wounding responses, and, to a minor extent, genes related to phenylpropanoid and terpenoid pathways. Only a Thaumatin-like gene was found in both cultivars showing a similar expression. In this work, the genetic factors and mechanism underlying the putative resistance trait against this fungal pathogen were unraveled for the first time and possible target genes for breeding resistant olive genotypes were found.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annalisa Marchese
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Bipin Balan
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | | | - Floriana Bonanno
- Research Centre for Plant Protection and Certification, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Palermo, Italy
| | - Tiziano Caruso
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Valeria Imperiale
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | | | - Antonio Giovino
- Research Centre for Plant Protection and Certification, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Palermo, Italy
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26
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Zhou Y, Meng X, Chen F, Xiong M, Zhang W, Wang KJ. Newly Discovered Antimicrobial Peptide Scyampcin 44-63 from Scylla paramamosain Exhibits a Multitargeted Candidacidal Mechanism In Vitro and Is Effective in a Murine Model of Vaginal Candidiasis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2023; 67:e0002223. [PMID: 37162345 PMCID: PMC10269043 DOI: 10.1128/aac.00022-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence of azole-resistant and biofilm-forming Candida spp. contributes to the constantly increasing incidence of vulvovaginal candidiasis. It is imperative to explore new antifungal drugs or potential substituents, such as antimicrobial peptides, to alleviate the serious crisis caused by resistant fungi. In this study, a novel antimicrobial peptide named Scyampcin44-63 was identified in the mud crab Scylla paramamosain. Scyampcin44-63 exhibited broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against bacteria and fungi, was particularly effective against planktonic and biofilm cells of Candida albicans, and exhibited no cytotoxicity to mammalian cells (HaCaT and RAW264.7) or mouse erythrocytes. Transcriptomic analysis revealed four potential candidacidal modes of Scyampcin44-63, including promotion of apoptosis and autophagy and inhibition of ergosterol biosynthesis and the cell cycle. Further study showed that Scyampcin44-63 caused damage to the plasma membrane and induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at G2/M in C. albicans. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy demonstrated that Scyampcin44-63-treated C. albicans cells were deformed with vacuolar expansion and destruction of organelles. In addition, C. albicans cells pretreated with the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine significantly delayed the candidacidal effect of Scyampcin44-63, suggesting that Scyampcin44-63 might contribute to autophagic cell death. In a murine model of vulvovaginal candidiasis, the fungal burden of vaginal lavage was significantly decreased after treatment with Scyampcin44-63.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Xiangyu Meng
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Fangyi Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- State-Province Joint Engineering Laboratory of Marine Bioproducts and Technology, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Ming Xiong
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- State-Province Joint Engineering Laboratory of Marine Bioproducts and Technology, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Weibin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Ke-Jian Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- State-Province Joint Engineering Laboratory of Marine Bioproducts and Technology, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
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27
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Morales AE, Soto N, Delgado C, Hernández Y, Carrillo L, Ferrero C, Enríquez GA. Expression of Mn-sod, PAL1, aos1 and HPL genes in soybean plants overexpressing the NmDef02 defensin. Transgenic Res 2023; 32:223-233. [PMID: 37131050 DOI: 10.1007/s11248-023-00350-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Plant defensins are a potential tool in crop improvement programs through biotechnology. Their antifungal action makes them attractive molecules for the production of transgenic plants. Information is currently lacking on what happens to the expression of defense genes in transgenic plants that overexpress a defensin. Here we show the relative expression of four defense-related genes: Mn-sod, PAL1, aos1 and HPL evaluated in two transgenic soybean events (Def1 and Def17) constitutively expressing the NmDef02 defensin gene from Nicotiana megalosiphon. The expression of these defense genes showed a differential profile in the transgenic events, with the increased expression of the aos1 gene and the repression of the Mn-sod gene in both events, when compared to the non-transgenic control. Furthermore, the expression of the PAL1 gene only increased in the Def17 event. The results indicate that although there were some changes in the expression of defense genes in transgenic plants overexpressing the defensin NmDef02; the morphoagronomic parameters evaluated were similar to the non-transgenic control. Understanding the molecular changes that occur in these transgenic plants could be of interest in the short, medium and long term.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro E Morales
- Plant Biotechnology Department, Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, P.O. Box 6162, C.P. 10600, Havana, Cuba
| | - Natacha Soto
- Plant Biotechnology Department, Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, P.O. Box 6162, C.P. 10600, Havana, Cuba.
| | - Celia Delgado
- Plant Biotechnology Department, Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, P.O. Box 6162, C.P. 10600, Havana, Cuba
| | - Yuniet Hernández
- Plant Biotechnology Department, Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, P.O. Box 6162, C.P. 10600, Havana, Cuba
| | - Leonardo Carrillo
- Plant Biotechnology Department, Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, P.O. Box 6162, C.P. 10600, Havana, Cuba
| | - Camilo Ferrero
- Plant Biotechnology Department, Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, P.O. Box 6162, C.P. 10600, Havana, Cuba
| | - Gil A Enríquez
- Plant Biotechnology Department, Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, P.O. Box 6162, C.P. 10600, Havana, Cuba
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28
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Jeenkeawpieam J, Rodjan P, Roytrakul S, Pruksaphon K, Mitsuwan W, Tanthanathipchai N, Boonkaewwan C, Tedja I, Pongpom M. Antifungal activity of protein hydrolysates from Thai Phatthalung Sangyod rice (Oryza sativa L.) seeds. Vet World 2023; 16:1018-1028. [PMID: 37576760 PMCID: PMC10420720 DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2023.1018-1028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2022] [Accepted: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Background and Aim Fungal zoonoses are an economic and public health concern because they can cause various degrees of morbidity and mortality in animals and humans. To combat this issue, alternative natural antifungals, such as products derived from rice protein hydrolysates or rice antifungal protein/peptide are being considered because they are highly bioactive and exhibit various functional properties. Thailand is a leading rice producer and exporter. Among the various cultivated rice varieties, Sangyod rice (Oryza sativa L.) is exclusively indigenous to Thailand's Phatthalung province; it has a Thai geographical indication tag. Here, we investigated whether the Phatthalung Sangyod rice seeds have bioactive antifungal peptides. Materials and Methods Antifungal activity in four Sangyod rice seed extracts (SYPs) - namely, (1) the crude lysate, SYP1; (2) the heat-treated lysate, SYP2; (3) the heat- and pepsin digested lysate, SYP3; and (4) the heat- and proteinase K-digested lysate, SYP4 - was analyzed. Protein concentrations in these SYPs were determined using the Bradford assay. The total phenolic compound content was determined using the modified Folin-Ciocalteu method in a 96-well microplate. Then, the SYP protein pattern was determined using the sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Subsequently, using the agar well diffusion method, the antifungal properties of these SYPs were tested against ten medically important pathogenic fungi. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal fungicidal concentration values were determined for the active SYPs - SYP2-4. Finally, the clinical safety of SYP4 was determined using a hemolytic assay (using canine red blood cells [RBCs]). Results The crude lysate SYP1 did not show antifungal activity against any of the ten tested pathogenic fungi. Surprisingly, hydrolysates SYP2, SYP3, and SYP4 displayed antifungal properties against the ten tested pathogenic fungi. Thus, heat and enzymatic hydrolysis seem to transform the bioactivity of the crude protein extract - SYP1. Further, SYP4 shows the most effective antifungal activity. It completely inhibited Cryptococcus neoformans, Talaromyces marneffei yeast phase, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, and Trichophyton rubrum. A partial inhibitory action on Candida albicans and Microsporum gypseum was possessed while showing the least activity to C. neoformans. SYP4 was nontoxic to canine RBCs. Hemolysis of canine RBCs was undetectable at 1 × MIC and 2 × MIC concentrations; therefore, it can be safely used in further applications. Conclusion These results indicate that heat and proteinase K hydrolyzed SYP is a very potent antifungal preparation against animal and human fungal pathogens and it can be used in future pharmaceuticals and functional foods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juthatip Jeenkeawpieam
- Akkhraratchakumari Veterinary College, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80160, Thailand
- One Health Research Center, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat, 80160, Thailand
| | - Prawit Rodjan
- School of Agricultural Technology and Food Industry, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat, 80160, Thailand
| | - Sittiruk Roytrakul
- Functional Ingredients and Food Innovation Research Group, National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
| | - Kritsada Pruksaphon
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
| | - Watcharapong Mitsuwan
- Akkhraratchakumari Veterinary College, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80160, Thailand
- One Health Research Center, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat, 80160, Thailand
| | | | - Chaiwat Boonkaewwan
- Akkhraratchakumari Veterinary College, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80160, Thailand
- One Health Research Center, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat, 80160, Thailand
| | - Irma Tedja
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Monsicha Pongpom
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
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29
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Rivero-Pino F, Leon MJ, Millan-Linares MC, Montserrat-de la Paz S. Antimicrobial plant-derived peptides obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation as components to improve current food systems. Trends Food Sci Technol 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2023.03.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/08/2023]
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30
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Duque HM, Rodrigues G, Santos LS, Franco OL. The biological role of charge distribution in linear antimicrobial peptides. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2023; 18:287-302. [PMID: 36720196 DOI: 10.1080/17460441.2023.2173736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Antimicrobial peptides (AMP) have received particular attention due to their capacity to kill bacteria. Although much is known about them, peptides are currently being further researched. A large number of AMPs have been discovered, but only a few have been approved for topical use, due to their promiscuity and other challenges, which need to be overcome. AREAS COVERED AMPs are diverse in structure. Consequently, they have varied action mechanisms when targeting microorganisms or eukaryotic cells. Herein, the authors focus on linear peptides, particularly those that are alpha-helical structured, and examine how their charge distribution and hydrophobic amino acids could modulate their biological activity. EXPERT OPINION The world currently needs urgent solutions to the infective problems caused by resistant pathogens. In order to start the race for antimicrobial development from the charge distribution viewpoint, bioinformatic tools will be necessary. Currently, there is no software available that allows to discriminate charge distribution in AMPs and predicts the biological effects of this event. Furthermore, there is no software available that predicts the side-chain length of residues and its role in biological functions. More specialized software is necessary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harry Morales Duque
- Centro de Análises Proteômicas e Bioquímicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília, PC: (CEP) 70.790-160, Brasília-DF, Brazil
| | - Gisele Rodrigues
- Centro de Análises Proteômicas e Bioquímicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília, PC: (CEP) 70.790-160, Brasília-DF, Brazil
| | - Lucas Souza Santos
- Centro de Análises Proteômicas e Bioquímicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília, PC: (CEP) 70.790-160, Brasília-DF, Brazil
| | - Octávio Luiz Franco
- Centro de Análises Proteômicas e Bioquímicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília, PC: (CEP) 70.790-160, Brasília-DF, Brazil.,S-inova Biotech, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Dom Bosco, PC: (CEP) 79117-010, Campo Grande-MS, Brazil
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31
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Pradhan G, Engsontia P. Diversity of the Antimicrobial Peptide Genes in Collembola. INSECTS 2023; 14:215. [PMID: 36975900 PMCID: PMC10051947 DOI: 10.3390/insects14030215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Revised: 02/18/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Multidrug-resistant bacteria are a current health crisis threatening the world's population, and scientists are looking for new drugs to combat them. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which are part of the organism's innate immune system, are a promising new drug class as they can disrupt bacterial cell membranes. This study explored antimicrobial peptide genes in collembola, a non-insect hexapod lineage that has survived in microbe-rich habitats for millions of years, and their antimicrobial peptides have not been thoroughly investigated. We used in silico analysis (homology-based gene identification, physicochemical and antimicrobial property prediction) to identify AMP genes from the genomes and transcriptomes of five collembola representing three main suborders: Entomobryomorpha (Orchesella cincta, Sinella curviseta), Poduromorpha (Holacanthella duospinosa, Anurida maritima), and Symphypleona (Sminthurus viridis). We identified 45 genes belonging to five AMP families, including (a) cysteine-rich peptides: diapausin, defensin, and Alo; (b) linear α-helical peptide without cysteine: cecropin; (c) glycine-rich peptide: diptericin. Frequent gene gains and losses were observed in their evolution. Based on the functions of their orthologs in insects, these AMPs potentially have broad activity against bacteria, fungi, and viruses. This study provides candidate collembolan AMPs for further functional analysis that could lead to medicinal use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Goma Pradhan
- Division of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90110, Thailand
| | - Patamarerk Engsontia
- Division of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90110, Thailand
- Molecular Evolution and Computational Biology Research Unit, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90110, Thailand
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Jian S, Yang K, Zhang L, Zhang L, Xin Z, Wen C, He S, Deng J, Deng B. The modulation effects of plant‐derived bioactive ingredients on chronic kidney disease: Focus on the gut–kidney axis. FOOD FRONTIERS 2023. [DOI: 10.1002/fft2.209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Shiyan Jian
- Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Control, College of Animal Science South China Agricultural University Guangzhou China
| | - Kang Yang
- Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Control, College of Animal Science South China Agricultural University Guangzhou China
| | - Lingna Zhang
- Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Control, College of Animal Science South China Agricultural University Guangzhou China
| | - Limeng Zhang
- Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Control, College of Animal Science South China Agricultural University Guangzhou China
| | - Zhongquan Xin
- Faculty of Food Science and Engineering Kunming University of Science and Technology Kunming China
| | - Chaoyu Wen
- Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Control, College of Animal Science South China Agricultural University Guangzhou China
| | - Shansong He
- Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Control, College of Animal Science South China Agricultural University Guangzhou China
| | - Jinping Deng
- Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Control, College of Animal Science South China Agricultural University Guangzhou China
| | - Baichuan Deng
- Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Control, College of Animal Science South China Agricultural University Guangzhou China
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Makambi WK, Ikonomova SP, Karlsson AJ. Quantifying the Antifungal Activity of Peptides Against Candida albicans. J Vis Exp 2023:10.3791/64416. [PMID: 36715417 PMCID: PMC10115183 DOI: 10.3791/64416] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Traditional methods for performing antifungal susceptibility testing for Candida albicans are time-consuming and lack quantitative results. For example, a common approach relies on plating cells treated with different concentrations of antifungal molecules on agar plates and then counting the colonies to determine the relationship between molecule concentration and growth inhibition. This method requires many plates and substantial time to count the colonies. Another common approach eliminates the plates and counting of colonies by visually inspecting cultures treated with antifungal agents to identify the minimum concentration required to inhibit growth; however, visual inspection produces only qualitative results, and information on growth at subinhibitory concentrations is lost. This protocol describes a method for measuring the susceptibility of C. albicans to antifungal peptides. By relying on optical density measurements of cultures, the method reduces the time and materials needed to obtain quantitative results on culture growth at different peptide concentrations. The incubation of the fungus with peptides is performed in a 96-well plate using an appropriate buffer, with controls representing no growth inhibition and complete growth inhibition. Following the incubation with the peptide, the resulting cell suspensions are diluted to reduce peptide activity and then grown overnight. After overnight growth, the optical density of each well is measured and compared to the positive and negative controls to calculate the resulting growth inhibition at each peptide concentration. The results using this assay are comparable to the results using the traditional method of plating the cultures on agar plates, but this protocol reduces plastic waste and the time spent on counting colonies. Although the applications of this protocol have focused on antifungal peptides, the method will also be applicable to testing other molecules with known or suspected antifungal activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wright K Makambi
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Maryland
| | | | - Amy J Karlsson
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Maryland;
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Sharma K, Aaghaz S, Maurya IK, Singh S, Rudramurthy SM, Kumar V, Tikoo K, Jain R. Ring-Modified Histidine-Containing Cationic Short Peptides Exhibit Anticryptococcal Activity by Cellular Disruption. Molecules 2022; 28:molecules28010087. [PMID: 36615282 PMCID: PMC9821961 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28010087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2022] [Revised: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Delineation of clinical complications secondary to fungal infections, such as cryptococcal meningitis, and the concurrent emergence of multidrug resistance in large population subsets necessitates the need for the development of new classes of antifungals. Herein, we report a series of ring-modified histidine-containing short cationic peptides exhibiting anticryptococcal activity via membrane lysis. The N-1 position of histidine was benzylated, followed by iodination at the C-5 position via electrophilic iodination, and the dipeptides were obtained after coupling with tryptophan. In vitro analysis revealed that peptides Trp-His[1-(3,5-di-tert-butylbenzyl)-5-iodo]-OMe (10d, IC50 = 2.20 μg/mL; MIC = 4.01 μg/mL) and Trp-His[1-(2-iodophenyl)-5-iodo)]-OMe (10o, IC50 = 2.52 μg/mL; MIC = 4.59 μg/mL) exhibit promising antifungal activities against C. neoformans. When administered in combination with standard drug amphotericin B (Amp B), a significant synergism was observed, with 4- to 16-fold increase in the potencies of both peptides and Amp B. Electron microscopy analysis with SEM and TEM showed that the dipeptides primarily act via membrane disruption, leading to pore formation and causing cell lysis. After entering the cells, the peptides interact with the intracellular components as demonstrated by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM).
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Affiliation(s)
- Komal Sharma
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Sector 67, S.A.S. Nagar 160 062, Punjab, India
| | - Shams Aaghaz
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Sector 67, S.A.S. Nagar 160 062, Punjab, India
| | - Indresh Kumar Maurya
- Center of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Sector 67, S.A.S. Nagar 160 062, Punjab, India
| | - Shreya Singh
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Sector 12, Chandigarh 160 012, India
| | - Shivaprakash M. Rudramurthy
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Sector 12, Chandigarh 160 012, India
| | - Vinod Kumar
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Sector 67, S.A.S. Nagar 160 062, Punjab, India
| | - Kulbhushan Tikoo
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Sector 67, S.A.S. Nagar 160 062, Punjab, India
| | - Rahul Jain
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Sector 67, S.A.S. Nagar 160 062, Punjab, India
- Correspondence:
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Punginelli D, Catania V, Vazzana M, Mauro M, Spinello A, Barone G, Barberi G, Fiorica C, Vitale M, Cunsolo V, Saletti R, Di Francesco A, Arizza V, Schillaci D. A Novel Peptide with Antifungal Activity from Red Swamp Crayfish Procambarus clarkii. Antibiotics (Basel) 2022; 11:antibiotics11121792. [PMID: 36551449 PMCID: PMC9774249 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics11121792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2022] [Revised: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The defense system of freshwater crayfish Procambarus clarkii as a diversified source of bioactive molecules with antimicrobial properties was studied. Antimicrobial activity of two polypeptide-enriched extracts obtained from hemocytes and hemolymph of P. clarkii were assessed against Gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis) and Gram negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli) bacteria and toward the yeast Candida albicans. The two peptide fractions showed interesting MIC values (ranging from 11 to 700 μg/mL) against all tested pathogens. Polypeptide-enriched extracts were further investigated using a high-resolution mass spectrometry and database search and 14 novel peptides were identified. Some peptides and their derivatives were chemically synthesized and tested in vitro against the bacterial and yeast pathogens. The analysis identified a synthetic derivative peptide, which showed an interesting antifungal (MIC and MFC equal to 31.2 μg/mL and 62.5 μg/mL, respectively) and antibiofilm (BIC50 equal to 23.2 μg/mL) activities against Candida albicans and a low toxicity in human cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diletta Punginelli
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Valentina Catania
- Department of Earth and Sea Science (DISTEM), University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Blg. 16, 90128 Palermo, Italy
- Correspondence:
| | - Mirella Vazzana
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Manuela Mauro
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Angelo Spinello
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Giampaolo Barone
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Barberi
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Calogero Fiorica
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Maria Vitale
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia “A. Mirri”, Via Marinuzzi, 3, 90129 Palermo, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Cunsolo
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Catania, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy
| | - Rosaria Saletti
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Catania, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy
| | - Antonella Di Francesco
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Catania, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Arizza
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Domenico Schillaci
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
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Fungicidal activity of human antimicrobial peptides and their synergistic interaction with common antifungals against multidrug-resistant Candida auris. Int Microbiol 2022; 26:165-177. [PMID: 36329309 DOI: 10.1007/s10123-022-00290-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2022] [Revised: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Emergence of Candida auris, a multidrug-resistant yeast, demonstrates the urgent need for novel antifungal agents. Human antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are naturally occurring molecules with wide spectrum antimicrobial activity, particularly against a variety of fungi. Therefore, this study examined the antifungal activity of seven different human AMPs against C. auris following the CLSI guidelines. The antifungal activity was further assessed using time kill curve and cell viability assays. For combination interaction, effectiveness of these peptides with three antifungals, fluconazole, amphotericin B, and caspofungin was done following standard protocols. To elucidate the antifungal mechanism, the effects of peptides on membrane permeability were investigated using propidium iodide staining method and confocal imaging. Antifungal susceptibility results showed that all the examined peptides possessed fungicidal effect against C. auris at different levels, with human β-defensin-3 being the most potent antifungal with MIC values ranging from 3.125 to 12.5 µg/ml. Time kill curves further confirmed the killing effect of all the tested peptides. Viability assay showed a significant decrease in the percentage of viable cells exposed to different inhibitory and fungicidal concentrations of each peptide (p < 0.01). Furthermore, peptides showed mostly synergistic interaction when combined with conventional antifungal drugs, with caspofungin showing 100% synergy when combined with different AMPs. As antifungal mechanism, peptides disrupted the membrane permeability at concentrations that correlated with the inhibition of growth. Overall, the findings of this study point towards the application of the tested peptides as a monotherapy or as a combination therapy with antifungal drugs to treat multidrug-resistant C. auris infections.
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Histidine 19 Residue Is Essential for Cell Internalization of Antifungal Peptide SmAPα1-21 Derived from the α-Core of the Silybum marianum Defensin DefSm2-D in Fusarium graminearum. Antibiotics (Basel) 2022; 11:antibiotics11111501. [PMID: 36358156 PMCID: PMC9686561 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics11111501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2022] [Revised: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The synthetic peptide SmAPα1-21 (KLCEKPSKTWFGNCGNPRHCG) derived from DefSm2-D defensin α-core is active at micromolar concentrations against the phytopathogenic fungus Fusarium graminearum and has a multistep mechanism of action that includes alteration of the fungal cell wall and membrane permeabilization. Here, we continued the study of this peptide’s mode of action and explored the correlation between the biological activity and its primary structure. Transmission electron microscopy was used to study the ultrastructural effects of SmAPα1-21 in conidial cells. New peptides were designed by modifying the parent peptide SmAPα1-21 (SmAPH19R and SmAPH19A, where His19 was replaced by Arg or Ala, respectively) and synthesized by the Fmoc solid phase method. Antifungal activity was determined against F. graminearum. Membrane permeability and subcellular localization in conidia were studied by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was assessed by fluorescence spectroscopy and CLSM. SmAPα1-21 induced peroxisome biogenesis and oxidative stress through ROS production in F. graminearum and was internalized into the conidial cells’ cytoplasm. SmAPH19R and SmAPH19A were active against F. graminearum with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 38 and 100 µM for SmAPH19R and SmAPH19A, respectively. The replacement of His19 by Ala produced a decrease in the net charge with a significant increase in the MIC, thus evidencing the importance of the positive charge in position 19 of the antifungal peptide. Like SmAPα1-21, SmAP2H19A and SmAP2H19R produced the permeabilization of the conidia membrane and induced oxidative stress through ROS production. However, SmAPH19R and SmAPH19A were localized in the conidia cell wall. The replacement of His19 by Ala turned all the processes slower. The extracellular localization of peptides SmAPH19R and SmAPH19A highlights the role of the His19 residue in the internalization.
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Kakar A, Sastré-Velásquez LE, Hess M, Galgóczy L, Papp C, Holzknecht J, Romanelli A, Váradi G, Malanovic N, Marx F. The Membrane Activity of the Amphibian Temporin B Peptide Analog TB_KKG6K Sheds Light on the Mechanism That Kills Candida albicans. mSphere 2022; 7:e0029022. [PMID: 35972132 PMCID: PMC9599520 DOI: 10.1128/msphere.00290-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Temporin B (TB) is a 13-amino-acid-long, cationic peptide secreted by the granular glands of the European frog Rana temporaria. We recently showed that the modified TB peptide analog TB_KKG6K rapidly killed planktonic and sessile Candida albicans at low micromolar concentrations and was neither hemolytic nor cytotoxic to mammalian cells in vitro. The present study aimed to shed light into its mechanism of action, with a focus on its fungal cell membrane activity. We utilized different fluorescent dyes to prove that it rapidly induces membrane depolarization and permeabilization. Studies on model membrane systems revealed that the TB analog undergoes hydrophobic and electrostatic membrane interactions, showing a preference for anionic lipids, and identified phosphatidylinositol and cardiolipin as possible peptide targets. Fluorescence microscopy using fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled TB_KKG6K in the presence of the lipophilic dye FM4-64 indicated that the peptide compromises membrane integrity and rapidly enters C. albicans cells in an energy-independent manner. Peptide-treated cells analyzed by cryo-based electron microscopy exhibited no signs of cell lysis; however, subcellular structures had disintegrated, suggesting that intracellular activity may form part of the killing mechanism of the peptide. Taken together, this study proved that TB_KKG6K compromises C. albicans membrane function, which explains the previously observed rapid, fungicidal mode of action and supports its great potential as a future anti-Candida therapeutic. IMPORTANCE Fungal infections with the opportunistic human pathogen C. albicans are associated with high mortality rates in immunocompromised patients. This is partly due to the yeast's ability to rapidly develop resistance toward currently available antifungals. Small, cationic, membrane-active peptides are promising compounds to fight against resistance development, as many of them effectuate rapid fungal cell death. This fast killing is believed to hamper the development of resistance, as the fungi do not have sufficient time to adapt to the antifungal compound. We previously reported that the synthetic variant of the amphibian TB peptide, TB_KKG6K, rapidly kills C. albicans. In the current study, the mechanism of action of the TB analog was investigated. We show that this TB analog is membrane-active and impairs cell membrane function, highlighting its potential to be developed as an attractive alternative anti-C. albicans therapeutic that may hinder the development of resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anant Kakar
- Biocenter, Institute of Molecular Biology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | | | - Michael Hess
- Institute for Histology and Embryology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - László Galgóczy
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
- Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Csaba Papp
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Jeanett Holzknecht
- Biocenter, Institute of Molecular Biology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | | | - Györgyi Váradi
- Department of Medical Chemistry, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical School, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Nermina Malanovic
- Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Field of Excellence BioHealth, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Florentine Marx
- Biocenter, Institute of Molecular Biology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
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Knudsen KS, Lehmann S, Nielsen R, Tangedal S, Paytuvi-Gallart A, Sanseverino W, Martinsen EMH, Hiemstra PS, Eagan TM. The lower airways microbiota and antimicrobial peptides indicate dysbiosis in sarcoidosis. MICROBIOME 2022; 10:175. [PMID: 36258251 PMCID: PMC9580159 DOI: 10.1186/s40168-022-01362-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2022] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The role of the pulmonary microbiome in sarcoidosis is unknown. The objectives of this study were the following: (1) examine whether the pulmonary fungal and bacterial microbiota differed in patients with sarcoidosis compared with controls; (2) examine whether there was an association between the microbiota and levels of the antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in protected bronchoalveolar lavage (PBAL). METHODS Thirty-five sarcoidosis patients and 35 healthy controls underwent bronchoscopy and were sampled with oral wash (OW), protected BAL (PBAL), and left protected sterile brushes (LPSB). The fungal ITS1 region and the V3V4 region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene were sequenced. Bioinformatic analyses were performed with QIIME 2. The AMPs secretory leucocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI) and human beta defensins 1 and 2 (hBD-1 and hBD-2), were measured in PBAL by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS Aspergillus dominated the PBAL samples in sarcoidosis. Differences in bacterial taxonomy were minor. There was no significant difference in fungal alpha diversity between sarcoidosis and controls, but the bacterial alpha diversity in sarcoidosis was significantly lower in OW (p = 0.047) and PBAL (p = 0.03) compared with controls. The beta diversity for sarcoidosis compared with controls differed for both fungi and bacteria. AMP levels were significantly lower in sarcoidosis compared to controls (SLPI and hBD-1: p < 0.01). No significant correlations were found between alpha diversity and AMPs. CONCLUSIONS The pulmonary fungal and bacterial microbiota in sarcoidosis differed from in controls. Lower antimicrobial peptides levels were seen in sarcoidosis, indicating an interaction between the microbiota and the innate immune system. Whether this dysbiosis represents a pathogenic mechanism in sarcoidosis needs to be confirmed in experimental studies. Video Abstract.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sverre Lehmann
- Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Department of Thoracic Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
| | - Rune Nielsen
- Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Department of Thoracic Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
| | - Solveig Tangedal
- Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | | | | | | | - Pieter S. Hiemstra
- Department of Pulmonology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Tomas M. Eagan
- Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Department of Thoracic Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
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Kamli MR, Sabir JSM, Malik MA, Ahmad A. Human β defensins-1, an antimicrobial peptide, kills Candida glabrata by generating oxidative stress and arresting the cell cycle in G0/G1 phase. Biomed Pharmacother 2022; 154:113569. [PMID: 35988423 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2022.113569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2022] [Revised: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Candida glabrata is the most frequently isolated non-albicans Candida species in clinical samples and is known to develop resistance to commonly used antifungal drugs. Human β defensins (hBDs) are antimicrobial peptides of immune systems and are active against a broad range of pathogens including Candida species. Herein, the antifungal effect of hBD-1 and its mechanism of action in C. glabrata was studied. The antifungal susceptibility of hBD-1 against C. glabrata was calculated by broth microdilution assay. To study the mechanism of antifungal action, the impact of hBD-1 on cell cycle, expression of oxidative stress enzymes, and membrane disintegration were assessed. The susceptibility results confirmed that hBD-1 possessed the minimum inhibitory concentration of 3.12 µg/mL and prevented the growth and caused yeast cell death to various extents. The peptide at subinhibitory and inhibitory concentrations blocked the cell cycle in C. glabrata in G0/G1 phase and disturbed the activity of primary and secondary antioxidant enzymes. Furthermore, at higher concentrations disruption of membrane integrity was observed. Altogether, hBD-1 showed candidicidal activity against C. glabrata and was able to induce oxidative stress and arrested cell cycle in C. auris and therefore has a potential to be developed as an antifungal drug against C. glabrata.
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Affiliation(s)
- Majid Rasool Kamli
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia; Center of excellence in Bionanoscience Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
| | - Jamal S M Sabir
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia; Center of excellence in Bionanoscience Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
| | - Maqsood Ahmad Malik
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80203, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
| | - Aijaz Ahmad
- Center of excellence in Bionanoscience Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia; Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Division of Infection Control, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa.
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Lee JK, Park S, Kim YM, Guk T, Lee MY, Park SC, Lee JR, Jang MK. Candidacidal and Antibiofilm Activity of PS1-3 Peptide against Drug-Resistant Candida albicans on Contact Lenses. Pharmaceutics 2022; 14:pharmaceutics14081602. [PMID: 36015228 PMCID: PMC9413542 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14081602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Revised: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The recent emergence of antibiotic-resistant fungi has accelerated research on novel antifungal agents. In particular, Candida albicans infections are related to biofilm formation on medical devices, such as catheters, stents, and contact lenses, resulting in high morbidity and mortality. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the antifungal and antibiofilm effects of a peptide against drug-resistant C. albicans. α-Helical peptides in which the sequence of KWYK was repeated twice and four times, designated peptide series 1 (PS1)-1 and PS1-3, respectively, were generated, and the candidacidal activities of PS1-1, PS1-3, and fluconazole against drug-resistant C. albicans cells were assessed. The PS1-3 peptide showed higher killing activity than PS1-1 or fluconazole and acted via a membranolytic mechanism. In addition, the PS1-3 peptide exhibited more potent activity than PS1-1 and fluconazole in terms of fungal biofilm inhibition and reduction at the minimum fungicidal concentration on the contact lens surface. Overall, these findings established PS1-3 as a potential candidacidal agent for applications on contact lenses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jong-Kook Lee
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 57922, Korea; (J.-K.L.); (S.P.); (Y.-M.K.); (T.G.)
| | - Soyoung Park
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 57922, Korea; (J.-K.L.); (S.P.); (Y.-M.K.); (T.G.)
| | - Young-Min Kim
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 57922, Korea; (J.-K.L.); (S.P.); (Y.-M.K.); (T.G.)
| | - Taeuk Guk
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 57922, Korea; (J.-K.L.); (S.P.); (Y.-M.K.); (T.G.)
| | - Min-Young Lee
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, Daejeon Health Institute of Technology, Daejeon 34504, Korea;
| | - Seong-Cheol Park
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 57922, Korea; (J.-K.L.); (S.P.); (Y.-M.K.); (T.G.)
- Correspondence: (S.-C.P.); (J.R.L.); (M.-K.J.)
| | - Jung Ro Lee
- LMO Team, National Institute of Ecology (NIE), Seocheon 33657, Korea
- Correspondence: (S.-C.P.); (J.R.L.); (M.-K.J.)
| | - Mi-Kyeong Jang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 57922, Korea; (J.-K.L.); (S.P.); (Y.-M.K.); (T.G.)
- Correspondence: (S.-C.P.); (J.R.L.); (M.-K.J.)
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Slezina MP, Istomina EA, Kulakovskaya EV, Korostyleva TV, Odintsova TI. The γ-Core Motif Peptides of AMPs from Grasses Display Inhibitory Activity against Human and Plant Pathogens. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23158383. [PMID: 35955519 PMCID: PMC9368981 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23158383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2022] [Revised: 07/25/2022] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) constitute an essential part of the plant immune system. They are regarded as alternatives to conventional antibiotics and pesticides. In this study, we have identified the γ-core motifs, which are associated with antimicrobial activity, in 18 AMPs from grasses and assayed their antimicrobial properties against nine pathogens, including yeasts affecting humans, as well as plant pathogenic bacteria and fungi. All the tested peptides displayed antimicrobial properties. We discovered a number of short AMP-derived peptides with high antimicrobial activity both against human and plant pathogens. For the first time, antimicrobial activity was revealed in the peptides designed from the 4-Cys-containing defensin-like peptides, whose role in plant immunity has remained unknown, as well as the knottin-like peptide and the C-terminal prodomain of the thionin, which points to the direct involvement of these peptides in defense mechanisms. Studies of the mode of action of the eight most active γ-core motif peptides on yeast cells using staining with propidium iodide showed that all of them induced membrane permeabilization leading to cell lysis. In addition to identification of the antimicrobial determinants in plant AMPs, this work provides short candidate peptide molecules for the development of novel drugs effective against opportunistic fungal infections and biopesticides to control plant pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina P. Slezina
- Vavilov Institute of General Genetics RAS, 119333 Moscow, Russia; (M.P.S.); (E.A.I.); (T.V.K.)
| | - Ekaterina A. Istomina
- Vavilov Institute of General Genetics RAS, 119333 Moscow, Russia; (M.P.S.); (E.A.I.); (T.V.K.)
| | - Ekaterina V. Kulakovskaya
- Federal Research Center “Pushchino Scientific Center for Biological Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, G.K. Skryabin Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Microorganisms RAS, 142290 Pushchino, Russia;
| | - Tatyana V. Korostyleva
- Vavilov Institute of General Genetics RAS, 119333 Moscow, Russia; (M.P.S.); (E.A.I.); (T.V.K.)
| | - Tatyana I. Odintsova
- Vavilov Institute of General Genetics RAS, 119333 Moscow, Russia; (M.P.S.); (E.A.I.); (T.V.K.)
- Correspondence:
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Sharma K, Aaghaz S, Maurya IK, Rudramurthy SM, Singh S, Kumar V, Tikoo K, Jain R. Antifungal evaluation and mechanistic investigations of membrane active short synthetic peptides-based amphiphiles. Bioorg Chem 2022; 127:106002. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2022.106002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Revised: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
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Fischer M, Müller P, Scheidt HA, Luck M. Drug-Membrane Interactions: Effects of Virus-Specific RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase Inhibitors Remdesivir and Favipiravir on the Structure of Lipid Bilayers. Biochemistry 2022; 61:1392-1403. [PMID: 35731976 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.2c00042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The two RNA-dependent RNA polymerase inhibitors remdesivir and favipiravir were originally developed and approved as broad-spectrum antiviral drugs for the treatment of harmful viral infections such as Ebola and influenza. With the outbreak of the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the two drugs were repurposed for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Clinical studies suggested that the efficacy of the drugs is enhanced in the case of an early or even prophylactic application. Because the contact between drug molecules and the plasma membrane is essential for a successful permeation process of the substances and therefore for their intracellular efficiency, drug-induced effects on the membrane structure are likely and have already been shown for other substances. We investigated the impact of remdesivir and favipiravir on lipid bilayers in model and cell membranes via several biophysical approaches. The measurements revealed that the embedding of remdesivir molecules in the lipid bilayer results in a disturbance of the membrane structure of the tested phospholipid vesicles. Nevertheless, in a cell-based assay, the presence of remdesivir induced only weak hemolysis of the treated erythrocytes. In contrast, no experimental indication for an effect on the structure and integrity of the membrane was detected in the case of favipiravir. Regarding potential prophylactic or accompanying use of the drugs in the therapy of COVID-19, the physiologically relevant impacts associated with the drug-induced structural modifications of the membrane might be important to understand side effects and/or low effectivities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Fischer
- Institute for Medical Physics and Biophysics, Leipzig University, 04107 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Peter Müller
- Institute of Biology, Biophysical Chemistry, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Holger A Scheidt
- Institute for Medical Physics and Biophysics, Leipzig University, 04107 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Meike Luck
- Institute of Biology, Biophysical Chemistry, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany
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Leannec-Rialland V, Atanasova V, Chereau S, Tonk-Rügen M, Cabezas-Cruz A, Richard-Forget F. Use of Defensins to Develop Eco-Friendly Alternatives to Synthetic Fungicides to Control Phytopathogenic Fungi and Their Mycotoxins. J Fungi (Basel) 2022; 8:229. [PMID: 35330231 PMCID: PMC8950385 DOI: 10.3390/jof8030229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Revised: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 02/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Crops are threatened by numerous fungal diseases that can adversely affect the availability and quality of agricultural commodities. In addition, some of these fungal phytopathogens have the capacity to produce mycotoxins that pose a serious health threat to humans and livestock. To facilitate the transition towards sustainable environmentally friendly agriculture, there is an urgent need to develop innovative methods allowing a reduced use of synthetic fungicides while guaranteeing optimal yields and the safety of the harvests. Several defensins have been reported to display antifungal and even-despite being under-studied-antimycotoxin activities and could be promising natural molecules for the development of control strategies. This review analyses pioneering and recent work addressing the bioactivity of defensins towards fungal phytopathogens; the details of approximately 100 active defensins and defensin-like peptides occurring in plants, mammals, fungi and invertebrates are listed. Moreover, the multi-faceted mechanism of action employed by defensins, the opportunity to optimize large-scale production procedures such as their solubility, stability and toxicity to plants and mammals are discussed. Overall, the knowledge gathered within the present review strongly supports the bright future held by defensin-based plant protection solutions while pointing out the obstacles that still need to be overcome to translate defensin-based in vitro research findings into commercial products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentin Leannec-Rialland
- Université de Bordeaux, UR1264 Mycology and Food Safety (MycSA), INRAE, 33882 Villenave d’Ornon, France;
| | - Vessela Atanasova
- UR1264 Mycology and Food Safety (MycSA), INRAE, 33882 Villenave d’Ornon, France; (V.A.); (S.C.)
| | - Sylvain Chereau
- UR1264 Mycology and Food Safety (MycSA), INRAE, 33882 Villenave d’Ornon, France; (V.A.); (S.C.)
| | - Miray Tonk-Rügen
- Institute for Insect Biotechnology, Justus Liebig University, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, 35392 Giessen, Germany;
- Institute of Nutritional Sciences, Justus Liebig University, Wilhelmstrasse 20, 35392 Giessen, Germany
| | - Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz
- Anses, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, UMR Parasitic Molecular Biology and Immunology (BIPAR), Laboratoire de Santé Animale, INRAE, 94700 Maison-Alfort, France
| | - Florence Richard-Forget
- UR1264 Mycology and Food Safety (MycSA), INRAE, 33882 Villenave d’Ornon, France; (V.A.); (S.C.)
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Lim EJ, Leng EGT, Tram NDT, Periayah MH, Ee PLR, Barkham TMS, Poh ZS, Verma NK, Lakshminarayanan R. Rationalisation of Antifungal Properties of α-Helical Pore-Forming Peptide, Mastoparan B. Molecules 2022; 27:molecules27041438. [PMID: 35209228 PMCID: PMC8879275 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27041438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2021] [Revised: 02/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The high mortality associated with invasive fungal infections, narrow spectrum of available antifungals, and increasing evolution of antifungal resistance necessitate the development of alternative therapies. Host defense peptides are regarded as the first line of defense against microbial invasion in both vertebrates and invertebrates. In this work, we investigated the effectiveness of four naturally occurring pore-forming antimicrobial peptides (melittin, magainin 2, cecropin A, and mastoparan B) against a panel of clinically relevant pathogens, including Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis, Candida tropicalis, and Candida glabrata. We present data on the antifungal activities of the four pore-forming peptides, assessed with descriptive statistics, and their cytocompatibility with cultured human cells. Among the four peptides, mastoparan B (MB) displayed potent antifungal activity, whereas cecropin A was the least potent. We show that MB susceptibility of phylogenetically distant non-candida albicans can vary and be described by different intrinsic physicochemical parameters of pore-forming α-helical peptides. These findings have potential therapeutic implications for the design and development of safe antifungal peptide-based drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward Jianyang Lim
- Ocular Infections and Anti-Microbials Research Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute, The Academia, 20 College Road, Discovery Tower, Singapore 169856, Singapore; (E.J.L.); (E.G.T.L.); (M.H.P.)
| | - Eunice Goh Tze Leng
- Ocular Infections and Anti-Microbials Research Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute, The Academia, 20 College Road, Discovery Tower, Singapore 169856, Singapore; (E.J.L.); (E.G.T.L.); (M.H.P.)
| | - Nhan Dai Thien Tram
- Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, 18 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore; (N.D.T.T.); (P.L.R.E.)
| | - Mercy Halleluyah Periayah
- Ocular Infections and Anti-Microbials Research Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute, The Academia, 20 College Road, Discovery Tower, Singapore 169856, Singapore; (E.J.L.); (E.G.T.L.); (M.H.P.)
| | - Pui Lai Rachel Ee
- Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, 18 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore; (N.D.T.T.); (P.L.R.E.)
| | | | - Zhi Sheng Poh
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Clinical Sciences Building, 11 Mandalay Road, Singapore 308232, Singapore;
| | - Navin Kumar Verma
- Ocular Infections and Anti-Microbials Research Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute, The Academia, 20 College Road, Discovery Tower, Singapore 169856, Singapore; (E.J.L.); (E.G.T.L.); (M.H.P.)
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Clinical Sciences Building, 11 Mandalay Road, Singapore 308232, Singapore;
- National Skin Centre, 1 Mandalay Road, Singapore 308205, Singapore
- Correspondence: (N.K.V.); (R.L.)
| | - Rajamani Lakshminarayanan
- Ocular Infections and Anti-Microbials Research Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute, The Academia, 20 College Road, Discovery Tower, Singapore 169856, Singapore; (E.J.L.); (E.G.T.L.); (M.H.P.)
- Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, 18 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore; (N.D.T.T.); (P.L.R.E.)
- Academic Clinical Program in Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Program, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore 169857, Singapore
- Correspondence: (N.K.V.); (R.L.)
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Bellavita R, Maione A, Merlino F, Siciliano A, Dardano P, De Stefano L, Galdiero S, Galdiero E, Grieco P, Falanga A. Antifungal and Antibiofilm Activity of Cyclic Temporin L Peptide Analogues against Albicans and Non-Albicans Candida Species. Pharmaceutics 2022; 14:pharmaceutics14020454. [PMID: 35214187 PMCID: PMC8877061 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14020454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2022] [Revised: 02/04/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Temporins are one of the largest families of antimicrobial peptides with both anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity. Herein, for a panel of cyclic temporin L isoform analogues, the antifungal and antibiofilm activities were determined against representative Candida strains, including C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. auris, C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis. The outcomes indicated a significant anti-candida activity against planktonic and biofilm growth for four peptides (3, 7, 15 and 16). The absence of toxicity up to high concentrations and survival after infection were assessed in vivo by using Galleria mellonella larvae, and the correlation between conformation and cytotoxicity was investigated by fluorescence assays and circular dichroism (CD). By combining fluorescence spectroscopy, CD, dynamic light scattering, confocal and atomic force microscopy, the mode of action of four analogues was hypothesized. The results pinpointed that peptide 3 emerged as a non-toxic compound showing a potent antibiofilm activity and represents a promising compound for biomedical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosa Bellavita
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine, University of Naples ‘Federico II’, Via Domenico Montesano 49, 80131 Naples, Italy; (R.B.); (F.M.); (S.G.)
| | - Angela Maione
- Department of Biology, University of Naples ‘Federico II’, Via Cinthia, 80126 Naples, Italy; (A.M.); (A.S.)
| | - Francesco Merlino
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine, University of Naples ‘Federico II’, Via Domenico Montesano 49, 80131 Naples, Italy; (R.B.); (F.M.); (S.G.)
| | - Antonietta Siciliano
- Department of Biology, University of Naples ‘Federico II’, Via Cinthia, 80126 Naples, Italy; (A.M.); (A.S.)
| | - Principia Dardano
- Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Pietro Castellino 111, 80131 Naples, Italy; (P.D.); (L.D.S.)
| | - Luca De Stefano
- Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Pietro Castellino 111, 80131 Naples, Italy; (P.D.); (L.D.S.)
| | - Stefania Galdiero
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine, University of Naples ‘Federico II’, Via Domenico Montesano 49, 80131 Naples, Italy; (R.B.); (F.M.); (S.G.)
| | - Emilia Galdiero
- Department of Biology, University of Naples ‘Federico II’, Via Cinthia, 80126 Naples, Italy; (A.M.); (A.S.)
- Correspondence: (E.G.); (P.G.); (A.F.); Tel.: +39-081-679182 (E.G.); +39-081-678620 (P.G.); +39-081-2534503 (A.F.)
| | - Paolo Grieco
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine, University of Naples ‘Federico II’, Via Domenico Montesano 49, 80131 Naples, Italy; (R.B.); (F.M.); (S.G.)
- Correspondence: (E.G.); (P.G.); (A.F.); Tel.: +39-081-679182 (E.G.); +39-081-678620 (P.G.); +39-081-2534503 (A.F.)
| | - Annarita Falanga
- Department of Agricultural Science, University of Naples ‘Federico II’, Via Università 100, 80055 Portici, Italy
- Correspondence: (E.G.); (P.G.); (A.F.); Tel.: +39-081-679182 (E.G.); +39-081-678620 (P.G.); +39-081-2534503 (A.F.)
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Struyfs C, Breukers J, Spasic D, Lammertyn J, Cammue BPA, Thevissen K. Multiplex Analysis to Unravel the Mode of Antifungal Activity of the Plant Defensin HsAFP1 in Single Yeast Cells. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23031515. [PMID: 35163438 PMCID: PMC8836000 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23031515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2021] [Revised: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Single cell analyses have gained increasing interest over bulk approaches because of considerable cell-to-cell variability within isogenic populations. Herein, flow cytometry remains golden standard due to its high-throughput efficiency and versatility, although it does not allow to investigate the interdependency of cellular events over time. Starting from our microfluidic platform that enables to trap and retain individual cells on a fixed location over time, here, we focused on unraveling kinetic responses of single Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells upon treatment with the antifungal plant defensin HsAFP1. We monitored the time between production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and membrane permeabilization (MP) in single yeast cells for different HsAFP1 doses using two fluorescent dyes with non-overlapping spectra. Within a time frame of 2 min, only <0.3% cells displayed time between the induction of ROS and MP. Reducing the time frame to 30 s did not result in increased numbers of cells with time between these events, pointing to ROS and MP induction as highly dynamic and correlated processes. In conclusion, using an in-house developed continuous microfluidic platform, we investigated the mode of action of HsAFP1 at single cell level, thereby uncovering the close interdependency between ROS induction and MP in yeast.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Struyfs
- Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems (MS), KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, 3001 Leuven, Belgium; (C.S.); (B.P.A.C.)
| | - Jolien Breukers
- Biosensors Group, Department of Biosystems (BIOSYST), KU Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, 3001 Leuven, Belgium; (J.B.); (D.S.); (J.L.)
| | - Dragana Spasic
- Biosensors Group, Department of Biosystems (BIOSYST), KU Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, 3001 Leuven, Belgium; (J.B.); (D.S.); (J.L.)
| | - Jeroen Lammertyn
- Biosensors Group, Department of Biosystems (BIOSYST), KU Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, 3001 Leuven, Belgium; (J.B.); (D.S.); (J.L.)
| | - Bruno P. A. Cammue
- Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems (MS), KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, 3001 Leuven, Belgium; (C.S.); (B.P.A.C.)
| | - Karin Thevissen
- Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems (MS), KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, 3001 Leuven, Belgium; (C.S.); (B.P.A.C.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +32-16-32-96-88
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Bouz G, Doležal M. Advances in Antifungal Drug Development: An Up-To-Date Mini Review. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2021; 14:1312. [PMID: 34959712 PMCID: PMC8706862 DOI: 10.3390/ph14121312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2021] [Revised: 12/11/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The utility of clinically available antifungals is limited by their narrow spectrum of activity, high toxicity, and emerging resistance. Antifungal drug discovery has always been a challenging area, since fungi and their human host are eukaryotes, making it difficult to identify unique targets for antifungals. Novel antifungals in clinical development include first-in-class agents, new structures for an established target, and formulation modifications to marketed antifungals, in addition to repurposed agents. Membrane interacting peptides and aromatherapy are gaining increased attention in the field. Immunotherapy is another promising treatment option, with antifungal antibodies advancing into clinical trials. Novel targets for antifungal therapy are also being discovered, allowing the design of new promising agents that may overcome the resistance issue. In this mini review, we will summarize the current status of antifungal drug pipelines in clinical stages, and the most recent advancements in preclinical antifungal drug development, with special focus on their chemistry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ghada Bouz
- Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Charles University, 50005 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Doležal
- Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Charles University, 50005 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
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50
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The Antimicrobial Peptide MK58911-NH 2 Acts on Planktonic, Biofilm, and Intramacrophage Cells of Cryptococcus neoformans. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2021; 65:e0090421. [PMID: 34516241 PMCID: PMC8597745 DOI: 10.1128/aac.00904-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Cryptococcosis is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality, especially in AIDS patients. Its treatment is carried out by combining amphotericin B and azoles or flucytosine, which causes unavoidable toxicity issues in the host. Thus, the urgency in obtaining new antifungals drives the search for antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). This study aimed to extend the understanding of the mechanism of action of an AMP analog from wasp peptide toxins, MK58911-NH2, on Cryptococcus neoformans. We also evaluated if MK58911-NH2 can act on cryptococcal cells in macrophages, biofilms, and an immersion zebrafish model of infection. Finally, we investigated the structure-antifungal action and the toxicity relationship of MK58911-NH2 fragments and a derivative of this peptide (MH58911-NH2). The results demonstrated that MK58911-NH2 did not alter the fluorescence intensity of the cell wall-binding dye calcofluor white or the capsule-binding dye 18b7 antibody-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) in C. neoformans but rather reduced the number and size of fungal cells. This activity reduced the fungal burden of C. neoformans in both macrophages and zebrafish embryos as well as within biofilms. Three fragments of the MK58911-NH2 peptide showed no activity against Cryptococcus and not toxicity in lung cells. The derivative peptide MH58911-NH2, in which the lysine residues of MK58911-NH2 were replaced by histidines, reduced the activity against extracellular and intracellular C. neoformans. On the other hand, it was active against biofilms and showed reduced toxicity. In summary, these results showed that peptide MK58911-NH2 could be a promising agent against cryptococcosis. This work also opens a perspective for the verification of the antifungal activity of other derivatives.
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