title: Silver adducts of four-branched histidine rich peptides exhibit synergistic antifungal activity.
abstract: Previously, a four branched histidine-lysine rich peptide, H3K4b, was shown to demonstrate selective antifungal activity with minimal antibacterial activity. Due to the potential breakdown from proteases, H3K4b was further evaluated in the current study by varying the D- and l-amino acid content in its branches. Whereas analogues of H3K4b that selectively replaced l-amino acids (H3k4b, h3K4b) had improved antifungal activity, the all d-amino acid analogue, h3k4b, had reduced activity, suggesting that partial breakdown of the peptide may be necessary. Moreover, because histidines form coordination bonds with the silver ion, we examined whether silver adducts can be formed with these branched histidine-lysine peptides, which may improve antifungal activity. For Candida albicans, the silver adduct of h3K4b or H3k4b reduced the MIC compared to peptide and silver ions alone by 4- and 5-fold, respectively. For Aspergillus fumigatus, the silver adducts showed even greater enhancement of activity. Although the silver adducts of H3k4b or h3K4b showed synergistic activity, the silver adduct with the all l-amino acid H3K4b surprisingly showed the greatest synergistic and growth inhibition of A. fumigatus: the silver adduct of H3K4b reduced the MIC compared to the peptide and silver ions alone by 30- and 26-fold, respectively. Consistent with these antifungal efficacy results, marked increases in free oxygen radicals were produced with the H3K4b and silver combination. These studies suggest that there is a balance between stability and breakdown for optimal antifungal activity of the peptide alone and for the peptide-silver adduct.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Qixin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Leng
authors.affiliation: Aparna Biosciences Corp, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.
authors.forename: Martin C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Woodle
authors.affiliation: Aparna Biosciences Corp, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.
authors.forename: Yijia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. Electronic address: Jmixson@som.umaryland.edu.
authors.forename: A James
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Mixson
mesh_terms: D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001232:Aspergillus fumigatus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D015195:Drug Design; D004357:Drug Synergism; D006639:Histidine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D010455:Peptides / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D012834:Silver / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D010455:Peptides; D012834:Silver; D006639:Histidine
keywords: Antimicrobial peptides; Aspergillus; Candida; Silver; Therapy