Host defence peptides identified in human apolipoprotein B as promising antifungal agents.

Host defence peptides identified in human apolipoprotein B as promising antifungal agents. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2021 Feb 12;: Authors: Dell'Olmo E, Gaglione R, Cesaro A, Cafaro V, Teertstra WR, de Cock H, Notomista E, Haagsman HP, Veldhuizen EJA, Arciello A Abstract Therapeutic options to treat invasive fungal infections are still limited. This makes the development of novel antifungal agents highly desirable. Naturally occurring antifungal peptides represent valid candidates, since they are not harmful for human cells and are endowed with a wide range of activities and their mechanism of action is different from that of conventional antifungal drugs. Here, we characterized for the first time the antifungal properties of novel peptides identified in human apolipoprotein B. ApoB-derived peptides, here named r(P)ApoBLPro, r(P)ApoBLAla and r(P)ApoBSPro, were found to have significant fungicidal activity towards Candida albicans (C. albicans) cells. Peptides were also found to be able to slow down metabolic activity of Aspergillus niger (A. niger) spores. In addition, experiments were carried out to clarify the mechanism of fungicidal activity of ApoB-derived peptides. Peptides immediately interacted with C. albicans cell surfaces, as indicated by fluorescence live cell imaging analyses, and induced severe membrane damage, as indicated by propidium iodide uptake induced upon treatment of C. albicans cells with ApoB-derived peptides...
Source: Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Appl Microbiol Biotechnol Source Type: research