Histatin 5 variant reduces Candida albicans biofilm viability and inhibits biofilm formation.

Histatin 5 variant reduces Candida albicans biofilm viability and inhibits biofilm formation.
Fungal Genet Biol. 2021 Feb 14;:103529
Authors: Moghaddam-Taaheri P, Leissa JA, Eppler HB, Jewell CM, Karlsson AJ
Abstract
Candida albicans is a commensal organism and opportunistic pathogen that can form biofilms that colonize surfaces such as implants, catheters, and dentures. Compared to planktonic C. albicans cells, cells in biofilms exhibit increased resistance to treatment. Histatin 5 (Hst-5) is an antimicrobial peptide that is natively secreted by human salivary glands and has strong antifungal activity against C. albicans. However, C. albicans produce secreted aspartic proteases (Saps) that can cleave and inactivate Hst-5, limiting its antifungal properties. We previously showed that residue substitutions K11R and K17R within Hst-5 improve its antifungal activity and prevent proteolytic degradation by Saps when treating planktonic C. albicans. We investigated the use of the K11R-K17R peptide as an alternative therapeutic against C. albicans biofilms by assessing its ability to reduce viability of pre-formed biofilms and to inhibit the formation of biofilms and showed that K11R-K17R had improved activity compared to Hst-5. Based on these results, we incorporated K11R-K17R and Hst-5 into polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) surface coatings and demonstrated that films functionalized with K11R-K17R reduced the formation of C. albicans biofi...

Source: Fungal Genetics and Biology - February 14, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: Moghaddam-Taaheri P, Leissa JA, Eppler HB, Jewell CM, Karlsson AJ Tags: Fungal Genet Biol Source Type: research