Influence of the papiliocin peptide derived from Papilio xuthus on the perturbation of fungal cell membranes.
Papiliocin is a 37-residue peptide isolated from the swallowtail butterfly Papilio xuthus. In this study, the antifungal effects and the mechanism of actions of papiliocin were investigated. First of all, papiliocin was shown to exert fungicidal activity. To understand the antifungal mechanism(s), propidium iodide influx into Candida albicans cells, induced by papiliocin, was examined. The result indicated that papiliocin perturbed and disrupted the fungal plasma membrane. Furthermore, calcein leakage from large unilamellar vesicles and rhodamine leakage from giant unilamellar vesicles further confirmed and visualized the membrane-disruptive action of papiliocin in the fungal model membrane, respectively. In summary, the present study suggests that papiliocin exerts its antifungal activity by a membrane-active mechanism and that this peptide can be developed into novel potent antifungal agents.
Lee
Juneyoung
J
School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, College of Natural Sciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea.
Hwang
Jae-Sam
JS
Hwang
Bomi
B
Kim
Jin-Kyoung
JK
Kim
Seong Ryul
SR
Kim
Yangmee
Y
Lee
Dong Gun
DG
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002080:Butterflies / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000187:drug effects*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data
D000935:Antifungal Agents; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; C551727:papiliocin protein, Papilio xuthus