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. 2022 Nov 5;11(11):1561.
doi: 10.3390/antibiotics11111561.

Chimeric Peptides Derived from Bovine Lactoferricin and Buforin II: Antifungal Activity against Reference Strains and Clinical Isolates of Candida spp

Katherine Aguirre-Guataqui  1 , Mateo Márquez-Torres  2 , Héctor Manuel Pineda-Castañeda  3 , Yerly Vargas-Casanova  1 , Andrés Ceballos-Garzon  4 , Zuly Jenny Rivera-Monroy  3 , Javier Eduardo García-Castañeda  3 , Claudia Marcela Parra-Giraldo  1
Affiliations

Chimeric Peptides Derived from Bovine Lactoferricin and Buforin II: Antifungal Activity against Reference Strains and Clinical Isolates of Candida spp

Katherine Aguirre-Guataqui et al. Antibiotics (Basel). .

Abstract

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are considered to be a valuable source for the identification and/or design of promising candidates for the development of antifungal treatments, since they have advantages such as lower tendency to induce resistance, ease of production, and high purity and safety. Bovine lactoferricin (LfcinB) and buforin II (BFII) are AMPs to which great antimicrobial potential has been attributed. The minimum motives with antimicrobial activity derived from LfcinB and BFII are RRWQWR and RLLR, respectively. Nine chimeras containing the minimum motives of both peptides were synthesized and their antifungal activity against fluconazole (FLC)-sensitive and resistant C. albicans, C. glabrata, and C. auris strains was evaluated. The results showed that peptides C9: (RRWQWR)2K-Ahx-RLLRRRLLR and C6: KKWQWK-Ahx-RLLRRLLR exhibited the greatest antifungal activity against two strains of C. albicans, a FLC-sensitive reference strain and a FLC-resistant clinical isolate; no medically significant results were observed with the other chimeras evaluated (MIC ~200 µg/mL). The chimera C6 was also active against sensitive and resistant strains of C. glabrata and C. auris. The combination of branched polyvalent chimeras together with FLC showed a synergistic effect against C. albicans. In addition to exhibiting antifungal activity against reference strains and clinical isolates of Candida spp., they also showed antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, suggesting that these chimeras exhibit a broad antimicrobial spectrum and can be considered to be promising molecules for therapeutic applications.

Keywords: Buforin II; Candida albicans; antimicrobial peptides; bovine lactoferricin; chimeras.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Time-kill curve of chimeras against reference and clinical isolates Candida species: (a,c,e,g) C. albicans SC5314, (b,d,f,h) C. albicans 256. The MIC value corresponds to the concentration obtained by the broth concentration method.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Time-kill curve of chimera C6 against: (a) C. glabrata 2001, (b) C. glabrata 1875, (c) C. auris 001, (d) C. auris 537. The MIC value corresponds to the concentration obtained by the broth concentration method.
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