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Almeida-Paes R, Frases S. New drugs and other strategies for the treatment of fungal infections. Future Microbiol 2023; 18:997-1000. [PMID: 37721205 DOI: 10.2217/fmb-2023-0169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/19/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Almeida-Paes
- Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, 21040-360, Brazil
- Rede Micologia - FAPERJ, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Susana Frases
- Rede Micologia - FAPERJ, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-902, Brazil
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
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Balla N, Jakab Á, Kovács F, Ragyák Á, Tóth Z, Balázsi D, Forgács L, Bozó A, Al Refai F, Borman AM, Majoros L, Kovács R. Total transcriptome analysis of Candida auris planktonic cells exposed to tyrosol. AMB Express 2023; 13:81. [PMID: 37532970 PMCID: PMC10397170 DOI: 10.1186/s13568-023-01586-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 08/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Tyrosol, a secondary metabolite of Candida species, regulates fungal morphogenesis, and its application may represent a novel innovative therapy against emerging multi-resistant fungal superbug such as Candida auris. In the current study, the effects of tyrosol on growth, redox homeostasis, intracellular microelement contents and activities of virulence-related enzymes released by C. auris were examined. To gain further information about the effect of tyrosol exposure, we revealed gene transcriptional changes using total transcriptome sequencing (RNA-Seq). At a concentration of 15 mM, tyrosol significantly decrease the growth of fungal cells within 2 h of its addition (5.6 × 107±1.2 × 107 and 2.5 × 107±0.6 × 107 colony forming unit/mL for control and tyrosol-treated cells, respectively). Furthermore, it enhanced the release of reactive oxygen species as confirmed by a dichlorofluorescein (DCF) assay (7.3 ± 1.8 [nmol DCF (OD640)-1] versus 16.8 ± 3.9 [nmol DCF (OD640)-1]), which was coincided with elevated superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities. Tyrosol exerted in a 37%, 25%, 34% and 55% decrease in intracellular manganese, iron, zinc and copper contents, respectively, compared to control cells. The tyrosol treatment led to a 142 and 108 differentially transcripted genes with at least a 1.5-fold increase or decrease in transcription, respectively. Genes related to iron and fatty acid metabolism as well as nucleic acid synthesis were down-regulated, whereas those related to the antioxidative defence, adhesion and oxoacid metabolic processes were up-regulated. This study shows that tyrosol significantly influences growth, intracellular physiological processes and gene transcription in C. auris, which could highly support the development of novel treatment approaches against this important pathogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noémi Balla
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei krt. 98, Debrecen, 4032, Hungary
- Doctoral School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, 4032, Hungary
| | - Ágnes Jakab
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei krt. 98, Debrecen, 4032, Hungary
- Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Microbiology, Institute of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Fruzsina Kovács
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei krt. 98, Debrecen, 4032, Hungary
- Doctoral School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, 4032, Hungary
| | - Ágota Ragyák
- Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Agilent Atomic Spectroscopy Partner Laboratory, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Zoltán Tóth
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei krt. 98, Debrecen, 4032, Hungary
| | - Dávid Balázsi
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei krt. 98, Debrecen, 4032, Hungary
- Doctoral School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, 4032, Hungary
| | - Lajos Forgács
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei krt. 98, Debrecen, 4032, Hungary
- Doctoral School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, 4032, Hungary
| | - Aliz Bozó
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei krt. 98, Debrecen, 4032, Hungary
| | - Farah Al Refai
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei krt. 98, Debrecen, 4032, Hungary
| | - Andrew M Borman
- UK National Mycology Reference Laboratory, Public Health England, Science Quarter, Southmead Hospital, Bristol, BS10 5NB, UK
- Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology (MRCCMM), University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QD, UK
| | - László Majoros
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei krt. 98, Debrecen, 4032, Hungary
| | - Renátó Kovács
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei krt. 98, Debrecen, 4032, Hungary.
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Therapeutic Effect of an Antibody-Derived Peptide in a Galleria mellonella Model of Systemic Candidiasis. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms222010904. [PMID: 34681564 PMCID: PMC8536055 DOI: 10.3390/ijms222010904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Revised: 09/26/2021] [Accepted: 10/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The synthetic peptide T11F (TCRVDHRGLTF), with sequence identical to a fragment of the constant region of human IgM, and most of its alanine-substituted derivatives proved to possess a significant candidacidal activity in vitro. In this study, the therapeutic efficacy of T11F, D5A, the derivative most active in vitro, and F11A, characterized by a different conformation, was investigated in Galleria mellonella larvae infected with Candida albicans. A single injection of F11A and D5A derivatives, in contrast with T11F, led to a significant increase in survival of larvae injected with a lethal inoculum of C. albicans cells, in comparison with infected animals treated with saline. Peptide modulation of host immunity upon C. albicans infection was determined by hemocyte analysis and larval histology, highlighting a different immune stimulation by the studied peptides. F11A, particularly, was the most active in eliciting nodule formation, melanization and fat body activation, leading to a better control of yeast infection. Overall, the obtained data suggest a double role for F11A, able to simultaneously target the fungus and the host immune system, resulting in a more efficient pathogen clearance.
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