title: Searching for the Optimal Fluorophore to Label Antimicrobial Peptides.
abstract: With the advent of antimicrobial resistance, there is an urgent need for new strategies to treat infectious diseases. Antimicrobial peptides are considered as promising candidates, and therefore there is a need to understand their mechanism of action in order to exploit their therapeutic potential. To this end, fluorescent analogs are powerful tools to analyze their behavior and subcellular localization in cells and in vivo. However, the conjugation of fluorophores to antimicrobial peptides, especially in short sequences, can impair their biological activity, making the selection of the fluorescent label an essential step in these studies. In the present work, we have systematically modified a model antifungal hexapeptide with a collection of fluorophores covering broad physicochemical and spectral properties. The resulting conjugates have been examined in two different fungal species, in terms of their activity and intracellular localization. The biological results confirm the influence of the different fluorescent moieties on the subcellular localization of antimicrobial sequences, and provides an insight on the optimal fluorophores to be used in the preparation of fluorescent peptides for different bioimaging assays.
authors.affiliation: Manchester Fungal Infection Group, Division of Infection, Immunity and Respiratory Medicine, University of Manchester , CTF Building, Grafton Street, M13 9NT Manchester, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Can
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: MRC/UoE Centre for Inflammation Research, The University of Edinburgh , 47 Little France Crescent, EH9 3FJ Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.affiliation: EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, The University of Edinburgh , West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Nicolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Avlonitis
authors.affiliation: Biomedical MRI Unit/MoSAIC, Department of Imaging and Pathology, KU Leuven , Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Greetje
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vande Velde
authors.affiliation: EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, The University of Edinburgh , West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.affiliation: Manchester Fungal Infection Group, Division of Infection, Immunity and Respiratory Medicine, University of Manchester , CTF Building, Grafton Street, M13 9NT Manchester, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Nick D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Read
authors.affiliation: MRC/UoE Centre for Inflammation Research, The University of Edinburgh , 47 Little France Crescent, EH9 3FJ Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vendrell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D005658:Fungi / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008172:Lung Diseases, Fungal / Q000188:drug therapy; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D061848:Optical Imaging
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D009842:Oligopeptides; C459185:PAF26 peptide
keywords: fluorescence; fungi; imaging; infection; labeling; probes