New Peptide Based Fluconazole Conjugates with Expanded Molecular Targets

Infections of Candida spp. etiology are frequently treated with azole drugs. Among azoles, the most widely used in the clinical scenario remains fluconazole (FLC). Promising results in treatment of dangerous, systemic Candida infections demonstrate the advantages of combined therapies carried out with combinations of at least two different antifungal agents. Here, we report five conjugates composed of covalently linked FLC and cell penetrating or antimicrobial peptide: TP10-7-NH₂, TP10-NH₂, LFcinB(2-11)-NH₂, LFcinB[Nle^1,11]-NH₂, and HLopt2-NH₂, with aspects of design, chemical synthesis and their biological activities. Two of these compounds, namely FLCpOH-TP10-NH₂ and FLCpOH-TP10-7-NH₂, exhibit high activity against reference strains and fluconazole-resistant clinical isolates of C. albicans, including strains overproducing drug transporters. Moreover, both of them demonstrate higher fungicidal effects compared to fluconazole. Analysis performed with fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy as well as flow cytometry indicated the cell membrane as a molecular target of synthesized conjugates. An important advantage of FLCpOH-TP10-NH₂ and FLCpOH-TP10-7-NH₂ is their low cytotoxicity. The IC₉₀ value for the human cells after 72 h treatment was comparable to the MIC₅₀ value after 24 h treatment for most strains of C. albicans. In reported conjugates, FLC was linked to the peptide by its hydroxyl group. It is worth noting that conjugation of FLC by the nitrogen atom of the triazole ring led to practically inactive compounds. Two compounds produced by us and reported herein appear to be potential candidates for novel antifungal agents.

Antibiotic-Based Conjugates Containing Antimicrobial HLopt2 Peptide: Design, Synthesis, Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic Activities

Recent studies have shown that modified human lactoferrin 20-31 fragment, named HLopt2, possesses antibacterial and antifungal activity. Thus, we decided to synthesize and evaluate the biological activity of a series of conjugates based on this peptide and one of the antimicrobials with proven antibacterial (ciprofloxacin, CIP, and levofloxacin, LVX) or antifungal (fluconazole, FLC) activity. The drugs were covalently connected to the peptide via amide, methylenecarbonyl moieties, or a disulfide bridge. The antibacterial and antifungal activities were evaluated under Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) recommended conditions or in a low-salt brain-heart infusion diluted medium (BHI_1/100). Results showed that conjugation of the peptide with the drug increased its antimicrobial activity up to 4-fold. Under CLSI-recommended conditions, all the compounds revealed rather low efficiency. Among conjugates, the highest antibacterial activity was recorded for the CIP-Cys-S-S-HLopt2-NH₂ (III). In BHI_1/100, which had lower differentiating properties, all of the conjugates revealed low MIC and MMC (minimum inhibitory and microbicidal concentrations) values. The disulfide bridge used as a linker in the most active conjugate (III) upon incubation with S. aureus cells is reduced, releasing constituent peptide and CIP-Cys. In addition, we showed that its fluorescently labeled analogue and constituent peptide are able to be internalized into both C. albicans and S. aureus cells. Moreover, the invaluable advantage of the presented conjugates was their low toxicity to mammalian cells and very low hemolytic activity. The current research can form a solid basis for further in vivo studies and drug development.

Peptide conjugates of lactoferricin analogues and antimicrobials-Design, chemical synthesis, and evaluation of antimicrobial activity and mammalian cytotoxicity

Eight new peptide conjugates composed of modified bovine lactoferricin truncated analogues (LFcinB) and one of the three antimicrobials - ciprofloxacin (CIP), levofloxacin (LVX), and fluconazole (FLC) - were synthesized. Four different linkers were applied to connect a peptide and an antimicrobial agent. The FLC-containing peptidic conjugates were synthesized using the "click chemistry" method. This novel approach is reported here for the first time. Unlike their components, CIP- and LVX-based conjugates exerted activity against Candida yeast. Similarly to the constituent peptides, synthesized conjugates showed activity against Gram-positive bacteria, especially S. epidermidis. The most active were the conjugates containing CIP linked to the peptide by the redox-sensitive disulfide bridge. Our results show a significant role of a linker between antimicrobial agent and a peptide. This was also confirmed by the lack of synergistic effects on the antimicrobial activity of the constituent compounds. Moreover, cytotoxicity assays revealed that the proposed conjugates cause a comparatively low cytotoxic effect in reference to antibiotics widely used in therapies. Therefore, they can be deliberated as attractive leading structures for the development of drugs.