Antimicrobial Peptides Pom-1 and Pom-2 from <i>Pomacea poeyana</i> Are Active against <i>Candida</i><i>auris</i>, <i>C. parapsilosis</i> and <i>C. albicans</i> Biofilms
Heinz Fabian Raber,
Jetmira Sejfijaj,
Ann-Kathrin Kissmann,
Andreas Wittgens,
Melaine Gonzalez-Garcia,
Annia Alba,
Antonio A. Vázquez,
Fidel E. Morales Vicente,
Julio Pérez Erviti,
Dennis Kubiczek,
Anselmo Otero-González,
Armando Rodríguez,
Ludger Ständker,
Frank Rosenau
Affiliations
Heinz Fabian Raber
Institute of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Jetmira Sejfijaj
Institute of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Ann-Kathrin Kissmann
Institute of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Andreas Wittgens
Institute of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Melaine Gonzalez-Garcia
Center for Protein Studies, Faculty of Biology, University of Havana, 25 Street, Havana 10400, Cuba
Annia Alba
Pedro Kourí Institute for Tropical Medicine, Havana 13600, Cuba
Antonio A. Vázquez
Pedro Kourí Institute for Tropical Medicine, Havana 13600, Cuba
Fidel E. Morales Vicente
General Chemistry Department, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Havana, Zapata y G, Havana 10400, Cuba
Julio Pérez Erviti
Center for Protein Studies, Faculty of Biology, University of Havana, 25 Street, Havana 10400, Cuba
Dennis Kubiczek
Institute of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Anselmo Otero-González
Center for Protein Studies, Faculty of Biology, University of Havana, 25 Street, Havana 10400, Cuba
Armando Rodríguez
Core Facility for Functional Peptidomics, Faculty of Medicine, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Ludger Ständker
Core Facility for Functional Peptidomics, Faculty of Medicine, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Frank Rosenau
Institute of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Recently two peptides isolated from the Cuban freshwater snail Pomacea poeyana (Pilsbry, 1927) were described to have antimicrobial activity against bacterial pathogens. Here we show considerable activities of Pom-1 and Pom-2 to reduce the viability of C. albicans, C. parapsilosis and the less common species C. auris measured as the decrease of metabolic activity in the resazurin reduction assay for planktonic cells. Although these activities were low, Pom-1 and Pom-2 turned out to be highly potent inhibitors of biofilm formation for the three Candida species tested. Whereas Pom-1 was slightly more active against C. albicans and C. parapsilosis as representatives of the more common Candida species Pom-2 showed no preference and was fully active also against biofilms of the more uncommon species C. auris. Pom-1 and Pom-2 may represent promising lead structures for the development of a classical peptide optimization strategy with the realistic aim to further increase antibiofilm properties and other pharmacologic parameters and to generate finally the first antifungal drug with a pronounced dedication against Candida biofilms.
