OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether an engineered synthetic decapeptide (KP) derived from the sequence of a recombinant anti-idiotypic antibody, that represents the internal image of a Pichia anomala killer toxin, could be fungicidal in vitro and therapeutic in vivo against Paracoccidioides brasiliensis and paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM). METHODS: Fungicidal activity of KP was assessed in vitro and in vivo by inhibition of colony forming units and by histological examination, 8 days after infection, of organs from mice intravenously injected with a virulent strain of P. brasiliensis (3 x 10(6) yeast cells) and intraperitoneally treated with KP (3.3 microg/g body weight, three doses), in comparison with control animals equally administered with a scrambled decapeptide (SP). RESULTS: KP but not SP was fungicidal in vitro at 39 ng/multiply-budding yeast cell and less efficiently in its D-isomeric form (0.31 microg/multiply-budding yeast cell). It was also able to markedly reduce the fungal load in organs (liver, lung, spleen) of infected animals. CONCLUSIONS: The therapeutic effect observed opens the way for using the antifungal peptide as an alternative control of PCM in association with conventional antifungal drugs.
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether an engineered synthetic decapeptide (KP) derived from the sequence of a recombinant anti-idiotypic antibody, that represents the internal image of a Pichia anomala killer toxin, could be fungicidal in vitro and therapeutic in vivo against Paracoccidioides brasiliensis and paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM). METHODS: Fungicidal activity of KP was assessed in vitro and in vivo by inhibition of colony forming units and by histological examination, 8 days after infection, of organs from mice intravenously injected with a virulent strain of P. brasiliensis (3 x 10(6) yeast cells) and intraperitoneally treated with KP (3.3 microg/g body weight, three doses), in comparison with control animals equally administered with a scrambled decapeptide (SP). RESULTS: KP but not SP was fungicidal in vitro at 39 ng/multiply-budding yeast cell and less efficiently in its D-isomeric form (0.31 microg/multiply-budding yeast cell). It was also able to markedly reduce the fungal load in organs (liver, lung, spleen) of infected animals. CONCLUSIONS: The therapeutic effect observed opens the way for using the antifungal peptide as an alternative control of PCM in association with conventional antifungal drugs.
Authors: Elena Gabrielli; Eva Pericolini; Elio Cenci; Federica Ortelli; Walter Magliani; Tecla Ciociola; Francesco Bistoni; Stefania Conti; Anna Vecchiarelli; Luciano Polonelli Journal: PLoS One Date: 2009-12-04 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Walter Magliani; Stefania Conti; Laura Giovati; Pier Paolo Zanello; Martina Sperindè; Tecla Ciociola; Luciano Polonelli Journal: Front Microbiol Date: 2012-06-01 Impact factor: 5.640
Authors: Luciano Polonelli; José Pontón; Natalia Elguezabal; María Dolores Moragues; Claudio Casoli; Elisabetta Pilotti; Paola Ronzi; Andrey S Dobroff; Elaine G Rodrigues; Maria A Juliano; Domenico Leonardo Maffei; Walter Magliani; Stefania Conti; Luiz R Travassos Journal: PLoS One Date: 2008-06-11 Impact factor: 3.240