A Designed Tryptophan- and Lysine/Arginine-Rich Antimicrobial Peptide with Therapeutic Potential for Clinical Antibiotic-Resistant Candida albicans Vaginitis

J Med Chem. 2016 Mar 10;59(5):1791-9. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5b01264. Epub 2016 Feb 29.

Abstract

New therapeutic agents for Candida albicans vaginitis are urgently awaiting to be developed because of the increasing antibiotic resistance of C. albicans. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are one of the most promising choices for next-generation antibiotics. In this study, novel peptides were designed based on snake venom antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin-BF to promote anti-C. albicans activity and decrease side-effects. The designing strategies include substitutions of charged or hydrophobic amino acid residues for noncharged polar residues to promote antimicrobial activity and insertion of a hydrophobic residue in the hydrophilic side of the helix structure to reduce hemolysis. A designed tryptophan and lysine/arginine-rich cationic peptide 4 (ZY13) (VKRWKKWRWKWKKWV-NH2) exhibited excellent antimicrobial activity against either common strain or clinical isolates of antibiotic-resistant C. albicans with little hemolysis. Peptide 4 showed significant therapeutic effects on vaginitis in mice induced by the infection of clinical antibiotic-resistant C. albicans. The approaches herein might be useful for designing of AMPs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / chemical synthesis
  • Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / chemistry*
  • Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / pharmacology*
  • Arginine / analysis
  • Arginine / chemistry
  • Candida albicans / cytology
  • Candida albicans / drug effects*
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Drug Design*
  • Drug Resistance, Fungal* / drug effects
  • Female
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Hemolysis / drug effects
  • Humans
  • Lysine / analysis
  • Lysine / chemistry
  • Mice
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Molecular Structure
  • Structure-Activity Relationship
  • Tryptophan / analysis
  • Tryptophan / chemistry
  • Vaginitis / drug therapy*
  • Vaginitis / microbiology*

Substances

  • Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides
  • Tryptophan
  • Arginine
  • Lysine