CNR ExploRA

Articolo in rivista, 2023, ENG, 10.3390/antibiotics12030472

Novel Arginine- and Proline-Rich Candidacidal Peptides Obtained through a Bioinformatic Approach

Tecla Ciociola 1, Laura Giovati 1, Tiziano De Simone 1, Greta Bergamasch 2i, Alessandro Gori 2, Valerio Consalvi 3, Stefania Conti 1, Alberto Vitali 4

1) Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, 43126 Parma, Italy, National Research Council of Italy, 2) Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche (SCITEC-CNR), 20131 Milan, Italy, 3) Dipartimento di Scienze Biochimiche "A. Rossi Fanelli", Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Roma, Italy, 4) National Research Council of Italy, Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche (SCITEC-CNR), 00168 Rome, Italy

Antimicrobial resistance is a major public health concern worldwide. Albeit to a lesser extent than bacteria, fungi are also becoming increasingly resistant to antifungal drugs. Moreover, due to the small number of antifungal classes, therapy options are limited, complicating the clinical management of mycoses. In this view, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a potential alternative to conventional drugs. Among these, Proline-rich antimicrobial peptides (PrAMPs), almost exclusively of animal origins, are of particular interest due to their peculiar mode of action. In this study, a search for new arginine- and proline-rich peptides from plants has been carried out with a bioinformatic approach by sequence alignment and antimicrobial prediction tools. Two peptide candidates were tested against planktonic cells and biofilms of Candida albicans and Candida glabrata strains, including resistant isolates. These peptides showed similar potent activity, with half-maximal effective concentration values in the micromolar range. In addition, some structural and functional features, revealing peculiar mechanistic behaviors, were investigated.

Antibiotics (Basel)