Antifungal Activity of Antimicrobial Peptides and Proteins Against

Overview

Journal J Fungi (Basel)

Date 2020 May 24

PMID 32443413

Citations 15

Authors

Eloise Ballard

Raif Yucel

Willem J G Melchers

Alistair J P Brown

Paul E Verweij

Adilia Warris

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Antimicrobial peptides and proteins (AMPs) provide an important line of defence against invading microorganisms. However, the activity of AMPs against the human fungal pathogen remains poorly understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterise the anti- activity of specific human AMPs, and to determine whether can possess resistance to specific AMPs, as a result of in-host adaptation. AMPs were tested against a wide range of clinical isolates of various origins (including cystic fibrosis patients, as well as patients with chronic and acute aspergillosis). We also tested a series of isogenic isolates obtained from a single patient over a period of 2 years. A range of environmental isolates, obtained from soil in Scotland, was also included. Firstly, the activity of specific peptides was assessed against hyphae using a measure of fungal metabolic activity. Secondly, the activity of specific peptides was assessed against germinating conidia, using imaging flow cytometry as a measure of hyphal growth. We showed that lysozyme and histones inhibited hyphal metabolic activity in all the isolates tested in a dose-dependent fashion. In addition, imaging flow cytometry revealed that histones, β-defensin-1 and lactoferrin inhibited the germination of conidia.

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