title: Discovery of Short Peptides Exhibiting High Potency against Cryptococcus neoformans.
abstract: Rapid increase in the emergence of resistance against existing antifungal drugs created a need to discover new structural classes of antifungal agents. In this study we describe the synthesis of a new structural class of short antifungal peptidomimetcis, their activity, and plausible mechanism of action. The results of the study show that peptides 11e and 11f are more potent than the control drug amphotericin B, with no cytotoxicity to human cancer cells and noncancerous mammalian kidney cells. The selectivity of peptides to fungus is depicted by transmission electron microscopy studies, and it revealed that 11e possibly disrupts the model membrane of the fungal pathogen.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicinal Chemistry, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research , Sector 67, S. A. S. Nagar, Punjab 160 062, India.
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mahindra
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicinal Chemistry, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research , Sector 67, S. A. S. Nagar, Punjab 160 062, India.
authors.forename: Nitin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bagra
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Panjab University , Sector 14, Chandigarh 160 014, India.
authors.forename: Nishima
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wangoo
authors.affiliation: National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi , University, Mississippi 38677, United States.
authors.forename: Shabana I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi , University, Mississippi 38677, United States.
authors.forename: Melissa R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicinal Chemistry, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research , Sector 67, S. A. S. Nagar, Punjab 160 062, India.
authors.forename: Rahul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jain
keywords: Antifungal peptides; C. neoformans; TEM; arylation; microwave