Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Fungal defensins, an emerging source of anti-infective drugs

  • Invited Review
  • Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
  • Published:
Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

With the rapid increase of antibiotic-resistant pathogens and the decline of discovery and development of new antibiotics, there is an urgent need to exploit alternative anti-infective drugs. Fungal defensin-like peptides are emerging as a class of new source of anti-infective drugs due to their potent antibacterial activity, low toxicity, and high serum stability. Fungal genome sequencing projects combined with the development of recombinant expression techniques will accelerate the discovery of fungal defensin-like peptides.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Fleming A (1929) On the antibacterial action of cultures of a penicillium, with special reference to their use in the isolation of B. influenza. Br J Exp Pathol 10:226–236

    Google Scholar 

  2. Alanis AJ (2005) Resistance to antibiotics: are we in the post-antibiotic era? Arch Med Res 36:697–705

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Coates ARM, Hu Y (2007) Novel approaches to developing new antibiotics for bacterial infections. Br J Pharmacol 152:1147–1154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Mygind PH, Fischer RL, Schnorr KM et al (2005) Plectasin is an antibiotic peptide with therapeutic potential from a saprophytic fungus. Nature 437:975–980

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Zhu S (2008) Discovery of six families of fungal defensin-like peptides provides insights into origin and evolution of the CSαβ defensins. Mol Immunol 45:828–838

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Zhu S, Gao B, Harvey PJ et al (2012) Dermatophytic defensin with antiinfective potential. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109:8495–8500

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Gao B, Rodriguez Mdel C, Lanz-Mendoza H et al (2009) AdDLP, a bacterial defensin-like peptide, exhibits anti-Plasmodium activity. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 387:393–398

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Oeemig JS, Lynggaard C, Knudsen DH et al (2012) Eurocin, a new fungal defensin: structure, lipid binding, and its mode of action. J Biol Chem 287:42361–42372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Matsuyama K, Natori S (1988) Purification of three antibacterial proteins from the culture medium of NIH-Sape-4, an embryonic cell line of Sarcophaga peregrina. J Biol Chem 263:17112–17116

    Google Scholar 

  10. Lowenberger CA, Smartt CT, Bulet P et al (1999) Insect immunity: molecular cloning, expression, and characterization of cDNAs and genomic DNA encoding three isoforms of insect defensin in Aedes aegypti. Insect Mol Biol 8:107–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Mandal K, Pentelute BL, Tereshko V et al (2009) Racemic crystallography of synthetic protein enantiomers used to determine the X-ray structure of plectasin by direct methods. Protein Sci 18:1146–1154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Yang YS, Mitta G, Chavanieu A et al (2000) Solution structure and activity of the synthetic four-disulfide bond Mediterranean mussel defensin (Mgd-1). Biochemistry 39:14436–14447

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Zasloff M (2002) Antimicrobial peptides of multicellular organisms. Nature 415:389–395

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Eigentler A, Pocsi I, Marx F (2012) The anisin1 gene encodes a defensin-like protein and supports the fitness of Aspergillus nidulans. Arch Microbiol 194:427–437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Schneider T, Kruse T, Wimmer R et al (2010) Plectasin, a fungal defensin, targets the bacterial cell wall precursor Lipid II. Science 328:1168–1172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Hara S, Mukae H, Sakamoto N et al (2008) Plectasin has antibacterial activity and no affect on cell viability or IL-8 production. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 374:709–713

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Ostergaard C, Sandvang D, Frimodt-Moller N et al (2009) High cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) penetration and potent bactericidal activity in CSF of NZ2114, a novel plectasin variant, during experimental pneumococcal meningitis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 53:1581–1585

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Raventos D, Taboureau O, Mygind PH et al (2005) Improving on nature’s defenses: optimization & high throughput screening of antimicrobial peptides. Comb Chem High Throughput Screen 8:219–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Mao R, Teng D, Wang X et al (2012) Design, expression, and characterization of a novel targeted plectasin against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 97:3991–4002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Gao B, Zhu S (2012) Alteration of the mode of antibacterial action of a defensin by the amino-terminal loop substitution. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 426:630–635

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. James TY, Kauff F, Schoch CL et al (2006) Reconstructing the early evolution of fungi using a six-gene phylogeny. Nature 443:818–822

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Galagan JE, Henn MR, Ma LJ et al (2005) Genomics of the fungal kingdom: insights into eukaryotic biology. Genome Res 15:1620–1631

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Zhang J, Yang Y, Teng D et al (2011) Expression of plectasin in Pichia pastoris and its characterization as a new antimicrobial peptide against Staphyloccocus and Streptococcus. Protein Expr Purif 78:189–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Jing XL, Luo XG, Tian WJ et al (2010) High-level expression of the antimicrobial peptide plectasin in Escherichia coli. Curr Microbiol 61:197–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2010CB945300) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31221091).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Group of Animal Innate Immunity, State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Yucheng Wu, Bin Gao & Shunyi Zhu

Authors
  1. Yucheng Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bin Gao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Shunyi Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shunyi Zhu.

About this article

Cite this article

Wu, Y., Gao, B. & Zhu, S. Fungal defensins, an emerging source of anti-infective drugs. Chin. Sci. Bull. 59, 931–935 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0165-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0165-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation