Abstract Candida yeast infections are the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. Peptides with antimicrobial activity are a promising alternative treatment for such infections. Here, the antifungal activity of a new antimicrobial peptide—PEP-IA18—was evaluated against Candida species. PEP-IA18 was designed from the primary sequence of profilin, a protein from Spodoptera frugiperda, and displayed potent activity against Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis, showing a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 2.5 µM. Furthermore, the mechanism of action of PEP-IA18 involved interaction with the cell membrane (ergosterol complexation). Treatment at MIC and/or 10 × MIC significantly reduced biofilm formation and viability. PEP-IA18 showed low toxicity toward human fibroblasts and only revealed hemolytic activity at high concentrations. Thus, PEP-IA18 exhibited antifungal and anti-biofilm properties with potential applicability in the treatment of infections caused by Candida species.

中文翻译：

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草地夜蛾 profilin 抗生物膜肽的开发

摘要 念珠菌酵母菌感染是全球第四大死亡原因。具有抗微生物活性的肽是治疗此类感染的一种有前途的替代疗法。在这里，评估了一种新的抗菌肽 PEP-IA18 对念珠菌的抗真菌活性。PEP-IA18 是根据 profilin 的一级序列设计的，profilin 是一种来自草地贪夜蛾的蛋白质，对白色念珠菌和热带念珠菌显示出有效的活性，最小抑制浓度 (MIC) 为 2.5 µM。此外，PEP-IA18 的作用机制涉及与细胞膜的相互作用（麦角甾醇复合）。MIC 和/或 10 × MIC 的处理显着降低了生物膜的形成和活力。PEP-IA18 对人成纤维细胞显示出低毒性，并且仅在高浓度下显示出溶血活性。因此，