Cathelicidin-inspired antimicrobial peptides as novel antifungal compounds

TY - JOUR

T1 - Cathelicidin-inspired antimicrobial peptides as novel antifungal compounds

AU - Van Eijk, Martin

AU - Boerefijn, Stephanie

AU - Cen, Lida

AU - Rosa, Marisela

AU - Morren, Marnix J.H.

AU - Van Der Ent, Cornelis K.

AU - Kraak, Bart

AU - Dijksterhuis, Jan

AU - Valdes, Ivan D.

AU - Haagsman, Henk P.

AU - De Cock, Hans

PY - 2020/11/1

Y1 - 2020/11/1

N2 - Fungal infections in humans are increasing worldwide and are currently mostly treated with a relative limited set of antifungals. Resistance to antifungals is increasing, for example, in Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida auris, and expected to increase for many medically relevant fungal species in the near future. We have developed and patented a set of cathelicidin-inspired antimicrobial peptides termed 'PepBiotics'. These peptides were initially selected for their bactericidal activity against clinically relevant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus isolates derived from patients with cystic fibrosis and are active against a wide range of bacteria (ESKAPE pathogens). We now report results from studies that were designed to investigate the antifungal activity of PepBiotics against a set of medically relevant species encompassing species of Aspergillus, Candida, Cryptococcus, Fusarium, Malassezia, and Talaromyces. We characterized a subset of PepBiotics and show that these peptides strongly affected metabolic activity and/or growth of a set of medically relevant fungal species, including azole-resistant A. fumigatus isolates. PepBiotics showed a strong inhibitory activity against a large variety of filamentous fungi and yeasts species at low concentrations (≤1 μM) and were fungicidal for at least a subset of these fungal species. Interestingly, the concentration of PepBiotics required to interfere with growth or metabolic activity varied between different fungal species or even between isolates of the same fungal species. This study shows that PepBiotics display strong potential for use as novel antifungal compounds to fight a large variety of clinically relevant fungal species.

AB - Fungal infections in humans are increasing worldwide and are currently mostly treated with a relative limited set of antifungals. Resistance to antifungals is increasing, for example, in Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida auris, and expected to increase for many medically relevant fungal species in the near future. We have developed and patented a set of cathelicidin-inspired antimicrobial peptides termed 'PepBiotics'. These peptides were initially selected for their bactericidal activity against clinically relevant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus isolates derived from patients with cystic fibrosis and are active against a wide range of bacteria (ESKAPE pathogens). We now report results from studies that were designed to investigate the antifungal activity of PepBiotics against a set of medically relevant species encompassing species of Aspergillus, Candida, Cryptococcus, Fusarium, Malassezia, and Talaromyces. We characterized a subset of PepBiotics and show that these peptides strongly affected metabolic activity and/or growth of a set of medically relevant fungal species, including azole-resistant A. fumigatus isolates. PepBiotics showed a strong inhibitory activity against a large variety of filamentous fungi and yeasts species at low concentrations (≤1 μM) and were fungicidal for at least a subset of these fungal species. Interestingly, the concentration of PepBiotics required to interfere with growth or metabolic activity varied between different fungal species or even between isolates of the same fungal species. This study shows that PepBiotics display strong potential for use as novel antifungal compounds to fight a large variety of clinically relevant fungal species.

KW - antifungal peptide

KW - antifungal resistance

KW - antimicrobial peptide

KW - cathelicidin

KW - fungal infections

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/7e954390-34d2-382a-a4e4-ea94f60f9891/

U2 - 10.1093/mmy/myaa014

DO - 10.1093/mmy/myaa014

M3 - Article

C2 - 32236485

SN - 1369-3786

VL - 58

SP - 1073

EP - 1084

JO - Medical Mycology

JF - Medical Mycology

IS - 8

ER -