抗真菌肽研究进展

有害真菌已造成植物真菌病害、食物污染和人类真菌感染等问题,给人们的生活和生产带来极大危害,且其逐渐增加对抗真菌药物的耐药性,导致真菌防治日益困难。传统的合成类抗真菌药物具有药物残留和毒副作用,已不能满足需求,作为生物机体天然防御分子的抗真菌肽已成为应对真菌危害及耐药性的重要研究对象。抗真菌肽能够抑制有害真菌,具有高效、广谱、安全的特性,且其独特的抑菌机理解决了真菌耐药性的问题,在真菌防治中逐渐受到关注。基于此,主要从真菌的危害以及抗真菌肽的来源、分离纯化方法、抑菌机理等几个方面进行分析与论述,以期为抗真菌肽的研究提供参考。     

家蝇幼虫血淋巴中抗真菌肽的诱导方法比较及抗真菌活性

以未诱导组作为空白对照研究比较真菌诱导、超声诱导和热诱导家蝇Musca domestica 幼虫血淋巴初提液的抗真菌肽效果,比较各种诱导方法诱导后的幼虫存活率;用凝胶层析法和高效液相分离纯化热诱导家蝇3龄幼虫抗真菌肽,检测其抗白假丝酵母菌Candida albicans和新生隐球菌Cryptococcus neoformans活性;SDS-PAGE分析抗真菌肽的蛋白分子量范围。结果表明：3种诱导方法诱导后家蝇幼虫均产生具有明显抗真菌作用的抗真菌肽,其初提液抑菌圈大小没有明显差别;真菌诱导组和热诱导组幼虫存活率低于对照组,而超声诱导组与对照组相比则无明显差别。经分离纯化后,抗真菌肽仍具有较好的抗真菌活性;SDS-PAGE分析表明该抗真菌肽有效成分的蛋白分子量在14.4 kD以下。结果提示热诱导家蝇幼虫产生抗真菌肽是一种方便、有效的诱导方式。     

解淀粉芽胞杆菌抗真菌活性研究进展

解淀粉芽胞杆菌(Bacillus amyloliquefaciens)具有很强的抑制植物病原真菌的能力。其菌体细胞能产生多种酶类、脂肽类抗生素、生物表面活性素、聚酮类化合物和抑菌蛋白,同时具有诱导植物产生系统抗性(ISR)的能力,因此在工农业、种植业、养殖业、食品加工业、果蔬的采后保鲜和饲料业等行业具有重要价值。本文对解淀粉芽胞杆菌抗真菌作用、抗真菌能力提高策略、抗菌化合物合成调节、抑制真菌机制及其引发的ISR等问题进行了深入探讨和综述。     

香叶醇抗真菌作用的研究

<正> 真菌引起物质霉变,特别是粮食、纺织品、工业器材及中药药材等发生霉变,造成经济损失;致病性真菌也引起人类及牲畜疾病,特别是一些产毒真菌(如黄曲霉等)致癌危害甚大。我们在筛选中草药挥发油抗真菌试验中,发现由植物香茅草提取的商品香叶醇有较强抗真菌作用,进而对其抗菌有效剂量、所含成份分析、抗真菌有效成份确定及防霉实用研究等方面进行了研究。     

昆虫抗真菌肽

随着对昆虫抗菌肽理论和应用研究的不断深入,已陆续发现了10多种昆虫抗真菌肽。文章就昆虫抗真菌肽的类型、结构和功能的关系、作用机理、应用等方面的新进展进行简要介绍和分析,为昆虫抗真菌肽的理论研究和发展新型抗生素等提供了必要的信息。     

脂筏在真菌极性生长中的作用

脂筏（lipid raft）是细胞膜上富含胆固醇和鞘磷脂的微结构域（microdomain）,参与细胞的多种生物学行为.随着研究的进一步深入,发现脂筏在真菌的极性生长方面也起着重要的作用.该文通过介绍真菌极性生长、脂筏的结构与功能等,阐述脂筏在真菌细胞极性生长中的作用,为阻断真菌极性生长并开发新的抗真菌药物靶点提供理论依据.     

芽胞杆菌产生的脂肽类抗生素的结构和应用

脂肽类抗生素不仅对细菌、真菌有抗菌作用,而且对支原体、寄生虫和病毒等也具有显著的抑制作用。其主要包括表面活性素(Surfactins)、伊枯草菌素(Iturins)和芬芥素(Fengycins),其中Iturins和Fengycins有抗真菌活性,Surfactins有抗支原体、抗病毒等活性。综述了芽胞杆菌产生的脂肽类抗生素的结构、功能和应用,为其在农业和医药的研究与应用提供参考。     

抗真菌药物及其作用机制研究

由于唑类药物长期使用,真菌耐药性及其交叉耐药现象不断出现,对临床治疗具有重要威胁。近年来提出新型抗真菌药物的新靶点,并研发出具有高活性强、强疗效的抗真菌药物。本研究对近年来新型抗真菌药的种类、结构和特点进行阐述,并介绍不同型药物对真菌的细胞壁、细胞膜、蛋白质合成、呼吸链等作用新靶点和作用机制的研究进展。     

家蝇幼虫血淋巴抗真菌肽MAF-1的分子特性分析及其抗真菌作用

制备家蝇Musca domestica幼虫血淋巴中的抗真菌肽, 对其分子特性及抗真菌机制进行研究。通过C₁₈柱固相萃取、 反相高效液相色谱相结合的方法, 成功制备到家蝇幼虫血淋巴抗真菌肽 MAF-1。SDS-PAGE分析结果表明, MAF-1的分子量为17.136 kDa。通过圆二色谱测出水溶液中MAF-1主要以α螺旋及β折叠为主。扫描电镜观察结果显示, MAF-1作用白假丝酵母菌Candida albicans 1 h后, 部分真菌出现表面凸凹不平, 细胞结构模糊; 随着作用时间的延长, 表面形成很明显的凹陷, 皱缩, 个别菌体破裂, 内容物外泄, 病变真菌发生率高于对照组。单细胞凝胶电泳（single-cell gel electrophoresis, SCGE）结果显示, 正常对照组的真菌呈现典型的圆形, 而实验组则出现明显的拖尾现象即形成“彗星”样细胞特征, 细胞迁移距离明显高于对照组。SDS-PAGE图谱显示, MAF-1作用后的白假丝酵母菌菌体蛋白谱带一些条带明显变浅, 条带数下降, 甚至消失。结果提示MAF-1可能具有独特的抗真菌机制。     

植物防御素结构与功能及其抗真菌机制研究进展

植物防御素是一类分子量约为5 kD的阳离子肽,是植物内免疫系统的主要成分之一,参与了多种植物生理生化活动。植物防御素含8个保守半胱氨酸,形成4对链内二硫键来稳定其3条反向平行的β折叠片和1个α螺旋,构成所谓的Csαβ模体结构。植物防御素具有抑制真菌和细菌生长、抑制酶的活性、抑制癌细胞增殖和作为离子通道阻断剂等功能。植物防御素抗真菌机制比较复杂,但它可能首先必须和真菌细胞质膜外侧的鞘脂等复杂脂类结合,引起真菌细胞发生一系列的反应,包括细胞膜通透性增强、胞内活性氧水平增高和诱导真菌细胞凋亡等。但是植物防御素详细的抗真菌机制及其在真菌细胞内作用靶点等有待于深入研究。综述了近年来植物防御素结构、功能及其抗真菌机制等方面的最新研究进展。     

Insect immunity. Isolation from the lepidopteran Heliothis virescens of a novel insect defensin with potent antifungal activity

Lepidoptera have been reported to produce several antibacterial peptides in response to septic injury. However, in marked contrast to other insect groups, no inducible antifungal molecules had been described so far in this insect order. Surprisingly, also cysteine-rich antimicrobial peptides, which predominate in the antimicrobial defense of other insects, had not been discovered in Lepidoptera. Here we report the isolation from the hemolymph of immune induced larvae of the lepidopteran Heliothis virescens of a cysteine-rich molecule with exclusive antifungal activity. We have fully characterized this antifungal molecule, which has significant homology with the insect defensins, a large family of antibacterial peptides directed against Gram-positive strains. Interestingly, the novel peptide shows also similarities with the antifungal peptide drosomycin from Drosophila. Thus, Lepidoptera appear to have built their humoral immune response against bacteria on cecropins and attacins. In addition, we report that Lepidoptera have conferred antifungal properties to the well conserved structure of antibacterial insect defensins through amino acid replacements.     

A new group of antifungal and antibacterial lipopeptides derived from non-membrane active peptides conjugated to palmitic acid

We report on the synthesis, biological function, and a plausible mode of action of a new group of lipopeptides with potent antifungal and antibacterial activities. These lipopeptides are derived from positively charged peptides containing d- and l-amino acids (diastereomers) that are palmitoylated (PA) at their N terminus. The peptides investigated have the sequence K(4)X(7)W, where X designates Gly, Ala, Val, or Leu (designated d-X peptides). The data revealed that PA-d-G and PA-d-A gained potent antibacterial and antifungal activity despite the fact that both parental peptides were completely devoid of any activity toward microorganisms and model phospholipid membranes. In contrast, PA-d-L lost the potent antibacterial activity of the parental peptide but gained and preserved partial antifungal activity. Interestingly, both d-V and its palmitoylated analog were inactive toward bacteria, and only the palmitoylated peptide was highly potent toward yeast. Both PA-d-L and PA-d-V lipopeptides were also endowed with hemolytic activity. Mode of action studies were performed by using tryptophan fluorescence and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared and circular dichroism spectroscopy as well as transmembrane depolarization assays with bacteria and fungi. The data suggest that the lipopeptides act by increasing the permeability of the cell membrane and that differences in their potency and target specificity are the result of differences in their oligomeric state and ability to dissociate and insert into the cytoplasmic membrane. These results provide insight regarding a new approach of modulating hydrophobicity and the self-assembly of non-membrane interacting peptides in order to endow them with both antibacterial and antifungal activities urgently needed to combat bacterial and fungal infections.     

FLO11 Gene Is Involved in the Interaction of Flor Strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with a Biofilm-Promoting Synthetic Hexapeptide

Saccharomyces cerevisiae “flor” yeasts have the ability to form a buoyant biofilm at the air-liquid interface of wine. The formation of biofilm, also called velum, depends on FLO11 gene length and expression. FLO11 encodes a cell wall mucin-like glycoprotein with a highly O-glycosylated central domain and an N-terminal domain that mediates homotypic adhesion between cells. In the present study, we tested previously known antimicrobial peptides with different mechanisms of antimicrobial action for their effect on the viability and ability to form biofilm of S. cerevisiae flor strains. We found that PAF26, a synthetic tryptophan-rich cationic hexapeptide that belongs to the class of antimicrobial peptides with cell-penetrating properties, but not other antimicrobial peptides, enhanced biofilm formation without affecting cell viability in ethanol-rich medium. The PAF26 biofilm enhancement required a functional FLO11 but was not accompanied by increased FLO11 expression. Moreover, fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry analyses showed that the PAF26 peptide binds flor yeast cells and that a flo11 gene knockout mutant lost the ability to bind PAF26 but not P113, a different cell-penetrating antifungal peptide, demonstrating that the FLO11 gene is selectively involved in the interaction of PAF26 with cells. Taken together, our data suggest that the cationic and hydrophobic PAF26 hexapeptide interacts with the hydrophobic and negatively charged cell wall, favoring Flo11p-mediated cell-to-cell adhesion and thus increasing biofilm biomass formation. The results are consistent with previous data that point to glycosylated mucin-like proteins at the fungal cell wall as potential interacting partners for antifungal peptides.     

Recent advances in the discovery of bioactive metabolites from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pestalotiopsis</Emphasis>

Fungal endophytes have marked a significant impact on drug discovery reducing the burden and dependency on plants. The vast diversity of Pestalotiopsis sp. has emerged as promising source of wide range of bioactive natural compounds. Recently a series of numerous novel secondary metabolites have been discovered of which taxol has drawn attention of scientific community towards its medicinal potential. A wide variety of compounds like alkaloids, polyketides, terpenoids, flavonoids, coumarins, xanthones, quinones, semiquinones, peptides, phenols, phenolic acids, and lactones have been identified which have usage as antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral antoneoplastic, and antioxidant activities. This review aims to highlight recent discoveries of different strains of Pestalotiopsis identified for producing natural bioactive compounds along with insights of their source of origin and potential in biotechnological applications.     

Anticandidal activity of synthetic peptides: Mechanism of action revealed by scanning electron and fluorescence microscopies and synergism effect with nystatin

Candida albicans has emerged as a major public health problem in recent decades. The most important contributing factor is the rapid increase in resistance to conventional drugs worldwide. Synthetic antimicrobial peptides (SAMPs) have attracted substantial attention as alternatives and/or adjuvants in therapeutic treatments due to their strong activity at low concentrations without apparent toxicity. Here, two SAMPs, named Mo‐CBP₃‐PepI (CPAIQRCC) and Mo‐CBP₃‐PepII (NIQPPCRCC), are described, bioinspired by Mo‐CBP₃, which is an antifungal chitin‐binding protein from Moringa oleifera seeds. Furthermore, the mechanism of anticandidal activity was evaluated as well as their synergistic effects with nystatin. Both peptides induced the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), cell wall degradation, and large pores in the C. albicans cell membrane. In addition, the peptides exhibited high potential as adjuvants because of their synergistic effects, by increasing almost 50‐fold the anticandidal activity of the conventional antifungal drug nystatin. These peptides have excellent potential as new drugs and/or adjuvants to conventional drugs for treatment of clinical infections caused by C. albicans.     

Antifungal Signature: Physicochemical and Structural In Silico Analysis of Some Antifungal Peptides

High throughput screening of antifungal peptide libraries have generated large number of information on peptide activities. However scientists are still struggling to explain the specific antifungal protein motifs resulting in their activities. So a thorough antifungal peptide optimization is required. To design and predict secondary structure of synthetic as well as natural antifungal peptide using in silico approaches, various parameters such as their sequences, physicochemical characterization, structures and functions should taken care to ensure a successful prediction. The primary interest of this study is to determine the properties that stabilize bonds of helices and coils of antifungal peptides along with their domains. Fifty different antifungal peptides have been analyzed in this study which were retrieved from uniprot and pdb databases and were characterized thoroughly using in silico tools. The present analysis showed that most of the antifungal peptides were hydrophobic in nature due to high content of nonpolar residues where as the functional domains were hydrophilic because of the presence of more polar residues. Many disulphide bonds were noticed in these peptides because of the presence of high cysteine residues which may be regarded as a positive factor for stability of linear helices and coils. Maximum number of random coils were observed in the domains of the studied peptides. The present study thus indicated that the peptidal domains of antifungal peptides contain structurally conserve signature though they are evolutionary diverse. Thus the present in silico models are able to guide the antifungal peptide design in a meaningful way.     

Antifungal activity of novel synthetic peptides by accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and disruption of cell wall against Candida albicans

In the present work, we investigated the antifungal activity of two de novo designed, antimicrobial peptides VS2 and VS3, incorporating unnatural amino acid α,β-dehydrophenylalanine (ΔPhe). We observed that the low-hemolytic peptides could irreversibly inhibit the growth of various Candida species and multidrug resistance strains at MIC₈₀ values ranging from 15.62 μM to 250 μM. Synergy experiments showed that MIC₈₀ of the peptides was drastically reduced in combination with an antifungal drug fluconazole. The dye PI uptake assay was used to demonstrate peptide induced cell membrane permeabilization. Intracellular localization of the FITC-labeled peptides in Candida albicans was studied by confocal microscopy and FACS. Killing kinetics, PI uptake assay, and the intracellular presence of FITC-peptides suggested that growth inhibition is not solely a consequence of increased membrane permeabilization. We showed that entry of the peptide in Candida cells resulted in accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) leading to cell necrosis. Morphological alteration in Candida cells caused by the peptides was visualized by electron microscopy. We propose that de novo designed VS2 and VS3 peptides have multiple detrimental effects on target fungi, which ultimately result in cell wall disruption and killing. Therefore, these peptides represent a good template for further design and development as antifungal agents.