A UBI 31-38 Peptide-Coumarin Conjugate: Photophysical Features, Imaging Tracking And Synergism With Amphotericin B Against Cryptococcus.

A UBI 31-38 Peptide-Coumarin Conjugate: Photophysical Features, Imaging Tracking And Synergism With Amphotericin B Against Cryptococcus.

Curr Top Med Chem. 2018 Feb 20;:

Authors: Ferreira SMZMD, Carneiro HC, Alves RB, Batista ACS, da Silva EN, Dias GG, Resende JM, Santos DA, Oliveira DL, Rodrigues ML, Freitas RP

Abstract
The conjugation of the synthetic antimicrobial peptide fragment UBI 31-38 to a coumarin derivative showed to be an effective approach for the design of a novel anticryptococcal agent. In addition to antifungal activity, the conjugate exhibited intense fluorescence, which could be valuable to a better understanding of its mechanism of action. In this work, we studied the photophysical properties of the conjugate and used confocal scanning laser microscopy to investigate its distribution in Cryptococcus cell. We also examined the synergism of this compound with amphotericin B or fluconazole against C. gattii and C. neoformans strains. Our results indicated that the fluorescent conjugate is a promising tool to combat cryptococcosis not only alone but also in association with amphotericin B.

PMID: 29473511 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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