@article { ISI:000294572800023, title = {Antifungal activity of novel synthetic peptides by accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and disruption of cell wall against Candida albicans}, journal = {Peptides}, volume = {32}, number = {8}, year = {2011}, month = {AUG}, pages = {1732-1740}, publisher = {ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC}, address = {360 PARK AVE SOUTH, NEW YORK, NY 10010-1710 USA}, abstract = {

In the present work, we investigated the antifungal activity of two de novo designed, antimicrobial peptides VS2 and VS3, incorporating unnatural amino acid alpha,beta-dehydrophenylalanine (Delta Phe). We observed that the low-hemolytic peptides could irreversibly inhibit the growth of various Candida species and multidrug resistance strains at MIC(80) values ranging from 15.62 mu M to 250 mu M. Synergy experiments showed that MIC(80) of the peptides was drastically reduced in combination with an antifungal drug fluconazole. The dye PI uptake assay was used to demonstrate peptide induced cell membrane permeabilization. Intracellular localization of the FITC-labeled peptides in Candida albicans was studied by confocal microscopy and FACS. Killing kinetics, PI uptake assay, and the intracellular presence of FITC-peptides suggested that growth inhibition is not solely a consequence of increased membrane permeabilization. We showed that entry of the peptide in Candida cells resulted in accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) leading to cell necrosis. Morphological alteration in Candida cells caused by the peptides was visualized by electron microscopy. We propose that de novo designed VS2 and VS3 peptides have multiple detrimental effects on target fungi, which ultimately result in cell wall disruption and killing. Therefore, these peptides represent a good template for further design and development as antifungal agents. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

}, keywords = {Antifungal peptides, Candida albicans, Cell wall, ROS}, issn = {0196-9781}, doi = {10.1016/j.peptides.2011.06.003}, author = {Maurya, Indresh Kumar and Pathak, Sarika and Sharma, Monika and Sanwal, Hina and Chaudhary, Preeti and Tupe, Santosh and Deshpande, Mukund V. and Chauhan, Virander Singh and Prasad, Rajendra} } @article {43967, title = {Can fungi compete with marine sources for chitosan production?}, journal = {International Journal of Biological Macromolecules}, volume = {104}, year = {2017}, month = {NOV}, pages = {1415-1421}, type = {Journal Article}, abstract = {

Chitosan, a β-1,4-linked glucosamine polymer is formed by deacetylation of chitin. It has a wide range of applications from agriculture to human health care products. Chitosan is commercially produced from shellfish, shrimp waste, crab and lobster processing using strong alkalis at high temperatures for long time periods. The production of chitin and chitosan from fungal sources has gained increased attention in recent years due to potential advantages in terms of homogenous polymer length, high degree of deacetylation and solubility over the current marine source. Zygomycetous fungi such as Absidia coerulea, Benjaminiella poitrasii, Cunninghamella elegans, Gongrenella butleri, Mucor rouxii, Mucor racemosus and Rhizopus oryzae have been studied extensively. Isolation of chitosan are reported from few edible basidiomycetous fungi like Agaricus bisporus, Lentinula edodes and Pleurotus sajor-caju. Other organisms from mycotech industries explored for chitosan production are Aspergillus niger, Penicillium chrysogenum, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and other wine yeasts. Number of aspects such as value addition to the existing applications of fungi, utilization of waste from agriculture sector, and issues and challenges for the production of fungal chitosan to compete with existing sources, metabolic engineering and novel applications have been discussed to adjudge the potential of fungal sources for commercial chitosan production.

}, keywords = {Cell wall, Chitin/chitosan, Waste Mycelial Biomass, Zygomycetous Fungi}, doi = {10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.01.112}, author = {Ghormade, V.}, editor = {Pathan, E.K.} } @article {48404, title = {Proteomic profile of candida albicans biofilm}, journal = {Journal of Proteomics}, volume = {265}, year = {2022}, month = {AUG }, pages = {104661}, type = {Article}, abstract = {

Candida albicans biofilms are characterized by structural and cellular heterogeneity that confers antifungal resistance and immune evasion. Despite this, biofilm formation remains poorly understood. In this study, we used proteomic analysis to understand biofilm formation in C. albicans related to morphophysiological and architectural features. LC-MS/MS analysis revealed that 64 proteins were significantly modulated, of which 31 were upregulated and 33 were downregulated. The results indicate that metabolism (25 proteins), gene expression (13 proteins), stress response (7 proteins), and cell wall (5 proteins) composition are modulated. The rate of oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) and biosynthesis of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine, vitamin B6, and thiamine increased, while the rate of methionine biosynthesis decreased. There was a significant modification of the cell wall architecture due to higher levels of Sun41, Pir1 and Csh1 and increased glycosylation of proteins. It was observed that C. albicans induces hyphal growth by upregulating the expression of genes involved in cAMP-PKA and MAPK pathways. This study is significant in that it suggests an increase in OxPhos and alteration of cell wall architecture that could be contributing to the recalcitrance of C. albicans cells growing in biofilms. Nevertheless, a deeper investigation is needed to explore it further.Significance: Candida sps is included in the list of pathogens with potential drug resistance threat due to the increased frequency especially colonization of medical devices, and tissues among the patients, in recent years. Significance of our study is that we are reporting traits like modulation in cell wall composition, amino acid and vitamin biosynthesis and importantly energy generation (OxPhos) etc. These traits could be conferring antifungal resistance, host immune evasion etc. and thus survival, in addition to facilitating biofilm formation. These findings are expected to prime the further studies on devising potent strategy against biofilm growth among the patients.

}, keywords = {Biofilm, Candida albicans, Cell wall, LC-MS, Metabolism, MS, proteomics}, issn = {1874-3919}, doi = {10.1016/j.jprot.2022.104661}, author = {Abdulghani, Mazen and Iram, Rasiqua and Chidrawar, Priti and Bhosle, Kajal and Kazi, Rubina and Patil, Rajendra and Kharat, Kiran and Zore, Gajanan} }