1. Blap-6, a Novel Antifungal Peptide from the Chinese Medicinal Beetle Blaps rhynchopetera against Cryptococcus neoformans .
- Author
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Zhang LM, Zhou SW, Huang XS, Chen YF, Mwangi J, Fang YQ, Du T, Zhao M, Shi L, and Lu QM
- Subjects
- Animals, Humans, Biofilms drug effects, Amino Acid Sequence, Cryptococcus neoformans drug effects, Antifungal Agents pharmacology, Antifungal Agents chemistry, Microbial Sensitivity Tests, Coleoptera microbiology, Coleoptera drug effects, Antimicrobial Peptides pharmacology, Antimicrobial Peptides chemistry
- Abstract
Cryptococcus neoformans ( C. neoformans ) is a pathogenic fungus that can cause life-threatening meningitis, particularly in individuals with compromised immune systems. The current standard treatment involves the combination of amphotericin B and azole drugs, but this regimen often leads to inevitable toxicity in patients. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new antifungal drugs with improved safety profiles. We screened antimicrobial peptides from the hemolymph transcriptome of Blaps rhynchopetera ( B. rhynchopetera ), a folk Chinese medicine. We found an antimicrobial peptide named blap-6 that exhibited potent activity against bacteria and fungi. Blap-6 is composed of 17 amino acids (KRCRFRIYRWGFPRRRF), and it has excellent antifungal activity against C. neoformans , with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.81 μM. Blap-6 exhibits strong antifungal kinetic characteristics. Mechanistic studies revealed that blap-6 exerts its antifungal activity by penetrating and disrupting the integrity of the fungal cell membrane. In addition to its direct antifungal effect, blap-6 showed strong biofilm inhibition and scavenging activity. Notably, the peptide exhibited low hemolytic and cytotoxicity to human cells and may be a potential candidate antimicrobial drug for fungal infection caused by C. neoformans .
- Published
- 2024
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