Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong SAR.
Department of Comparative Biochemistry and Bioanalytics, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland.
APMIS. 2023 Nov;131(11):584-600. doi: 10.1111/apm.13322. Epub 2023 May 7.
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.
白色念珠菌等酵母虽然是皮肤、口腔和阴道微生物组中无处不在的成员,但它们可以引起从浅表到危及生命的感染。人源防御素 LL-37 衍生肽具有抗菌活性,但它们的抗真菌活性仍有待深入研究。本研究旨在全面研究 LL-37 衍生肽对白色念珠菌的活性。检测了 LL-37 及其衍生物在存在各种已报道可使肽失活的生物基质(血清、血浆、唾液和尿液)的情况下杀死浮游念珠菌细胞的能力。研究了先导肽的抗生物膜活性、耐药性发展和生物相容性。一种 17 个氨基酸的肽 GK-17 对真菌天冬氨酸蛋白酶具有显著的稳定性,即使存在生物基质,也能迅速杀死浮游念珠菌。GK-17 还抑制了对生物和非生物基质的粘附,抑制了生物膜的形成,并在存在生物基质的情况下消除了已形成的生物膜。与制霉菌素相比,GK-17 使念珠菌产生耐药性的倾向较低。该肽对红细胞表现出浓度依赖性的生物相容性,即使在 4 倍于杀菌浓度的情况下,溶血率也仅为 30%。总之,GK-17 是一种新型抗真菌肽,对白色念珠菌有很好的疗效。