title: Influence of the papiliocin peptide derived from Papilio xuthus on the perturbation of fungal cell membranes.
abstract: 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.
authors: School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, College of Natural Sciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea.
authors: Juneyoung
authors: J
authors: Lee
authors: Jae-Sam
authors: JS
authors: Hwang
authors: Bomi
authors: B
authors: Hwang
authors: Jin-Kyoung
authors: JK
authors: Kim
authors: Seong Ryul
authors: SR
authors: Kim
authors: Yangmee
authors: Y
authors: Kim
authors: Dong Gun
authors: DG
authors: Lee
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; C551727:papiliocin protein, Papilio xuthus