AurH1: a new heptapeptide derived from Aurein1.2 antimicrobial peptide with specific and exclusive fungicidal activity

Abstract

Due to the increasing incidence of fungal opportunistic infections and emergence of antibiotic‐resistant fungal strains, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are considered as ideal candidates for antifungal compounds. In silico methods can reduce the limitations of natural AMPs such as toxicity and instability and improve their antimicrobial properties and selectivity. In this study, we designed AurH1, a new truncated peptide, based on the six‐amino acid sequence of Aurein1.2. Further, the antimicrobial activities and toxicity effects of AurH1 on human skin fibroblast cells and red blood cells were investigated. Finally, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM) and flow cytometry were performed in order to study the mechanism of action of AurH1. The results indicated that AurH1 had only antifungal activity (at a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 7.3‐125 μg/mL) without any antibacterial effects on the selected bacteria, while Aurein1.2 had both antifungal and antibacterial activities as positive control. Furthermore, AurH1 did not show any toxicity on Hu02 cells and human red blood cells at its MIC range. In conclusion, it became clear that AurH1 is a selective peptide against fungi with no toxic effects on the selected bacteria and human cells.

Novel magnetic organic–inorganic hybrids based on aromatic polyamides and ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles with biological activity

“…The plates were incubated at 37 °C for 24 h and 48 h, and the MICs were determined. Then, 100 μL of the initial bacteria inoculums of 5 × 10 5 CFU/ml were platted on Mueller–Hinton Agar (MHA) and Sabouraud Maltose Agar (SMA) as the positive control, and 100 µL of the 24 h inhibitory concentration test samples was platted on the same media to determine the MBCs 48 .…”

Targeted delivery of paclitaxel by NL2 peptide‐functionalized on core‐shell LaVO4: Eu3@ poly (levodopa) luminescent nanoparticles

“…Then, the cells were washed two times with PBS, and the growth medium was removed. New maintenance RPMI (Gibco, Carlsbad, CA) medium containing 2.5, 5, 10, 20, and 30 μg ml −1 of each compound were incubated for 24, 48, and 72 hr 33 . Quintet wells were analyzed for each concentration and PBS was used as a control.…”

COVID‐19: A systematic review and update on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment

“…The most important of these properties are isoelectric pH (pI), molecular weight (Mw), amino acid content, hydrophobicity, instability index, and Grand average of hydropathicity index (GRAVY). 423 RAMPAGE and SWISS‐MODEL can be used to predict the placement of protein backbone residues according to their torsion (dihedral) angles in the permitted or unauthorized areas of the Ramachandran plot. 404 , 424 The ProSA‐web server can also be used for the analysis and final validation of the structure of a designed protein construct.…”

“…442 The big data obtained from high-throughput screening and the high number of drug candidates have shown that ML algorithms, such as support vector machine, ANN, random forests, discriminant analysis, and so on, have become a fundamental tool for drug designing and discovery. 423,443 ML techniques can be used to model QSAR or quantitative structure-property relationships and develop artificial intelligence programs that accurately predict in silico how chemical modifications might influence biological behavior. 441,442 Many physicochemical properties of drugs, such as toxicity, metabolism, drug-drug interactions, and carcinogenesis, have been effectively modeled by QSAR techniques.…”

“…ProtParm can predict the physicochemical properties of the designed construct. The most important of these properties are isoelectric pH (pI), molecular weight (Mw), amino acid content, hydrophobicity, instability index, and Grand average of hydropathicity index (GRAVY) 423 . RAMPAGE and SWISS‐MODEL can be used to predict the placement of protein backbone residues according to their torsion (dihedral) angles in the permitted or unauthorized areas of the Ramachandran plot 404,424 .…”