title: Triangular gold nanoparticles conjugated with peptide ligands: a new class of inhibitor for Candida albicans secreted aspartyl proteinase.
abstract: The aim of this study was to find the peptide ligands to inhibit Candida albicans secreted aspartyl proteinase 2 (Sap2). First, a ligand library, containing 300 different peptides, was constructed, and their interaction with Sap2 was separately calculated by molecular dynamic software. Second, 10 peptide ligands with the lowest intermolecular energy were selected. Then, triangular gold nanoparticles were synthesized, and separately conjugated with the peptide ligands. After synthesis, antifungal property and Sap inactivation of conjugated triangular gold nanoparticles, peptide ligands, and naked triangular gold nanoparticle were separately assessed, against thirty clinical isolates of C. albicans. In this study, we measured the uptake of conjugated and naked nanoparticles by atomic adsorption spectroscopy. This study showed that naked triangular gold nanoparticle and all conjugated triangular gold nanoparticles had high antifungal activity, but no peptide ligands had such activity. Of 300 peptide ligands, the peptide containing N-Cys-Lys-Lys-Arg-Met-Met-Lys-Ser-Met-Cys-C and its conjugate had the highest capability to inhibit Sap. Moreover, the uptake assay demonstrated that triangular gold nanoparticles conjugated with the peptide ligand had the highest uptake.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Research and Clinical Center for Infertility, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd 8916733754, Iran. Electronic address: alijebal2011@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jebali
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Pars Hospital Lab, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Farzaneh Haji Esmaeil
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Hajjar
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Sciences, School of Paramedicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyedhossein
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hekmatimoghaddam
authors.affiliation: Cellular and Molecular Biology Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Department of Biotechnology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Bahram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kazemi
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Nanociencia de Aragón (INA), Universidad de Zaragoza, Mariano Esquillor s/n, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain; Fundacion ARAID; Institute of Nano Biomedicine and Engineering, Key Laboratory for Thin Film and Microfabrication Technology of the Ministry of Education, Research Institute of Translation Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Dongchuan Road 800, 200240 Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jesus M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: De La Fuente
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rashidi
mesh_terms: D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D057055:Aspartic Acid Proteases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000254:growth & development; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D011480:Protease Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D010455:Peptides; D011480:Protease Inhibitors; D006046:Gold; D057055:Aspartic Acid Proteases
keywords: Candida albicans; Peptide ligand; Secreted aspartyl proteinase; Triangular gold nanoparticle