Abstract
Following our previous study as the first study of the antifungal effect of CE-MA peptide and its truncated derivatives (CMt1–CMt3) against fungal strains Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Microsporum canis, in this study, the antimicrobial effects of CE-MA antimicrobial peptide and its truncated derivatives were evaluated against new fungal strains and specific strains of bacteria. Next, the cytotoxicity of synthetic peptides against L929 cells, the killing kinetics, and their action mechanism against bacteria was determined. The results showed that CE-MA and its derivatives had no antibacterial effect against Gram-positive bacteria. However, CMt1 with ten amino acids has the best antifungal and antibacterial effects, while CMt3 has the weakest antimicrobial effect. CMt1 also has a toxicity of less than 10% against L929 cells. CE-MA and CMt1 exert their antimicrobial effects by binding to LPS from the cell membranes of Gram-negative bacteria. Our present and previous studies about CE-MA peptide and its truncated derivatives show that if truncation is performed correctly, it can be a good strategy for reducing toxicity, allergenicity, inflammatory effects, synthesis costs, and increasing the stability of AMPs.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the staff of the School of medicine, Department, and Center for Biotechnology Research from Semnan University of Medical Sciences and Drug Design and Bioinformatics Unit of Pasteur Institute of Iran.
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Hamid Madanchi contributed to the study's conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Hamid Madanchi, Samaneh Namvar Erbani, Hatef Ajoudanifar, and Ali Akbar Shabani. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Hamid Madanchi. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Hamid Madanchi and Hatef Ajoudanifar are co-corresponding authors.
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Namvar Arabani, S., Madanchi, H., Ajoudanifar, H. et al. Evaluation of Antibacterial, Antifungal, and Cytotoxicity Effects of CecropinA-Magenin2 (CE-MA) Peptide and Its Truncated Derivatives and Study of Their Action Mechanism. Int J Pept Res Ther 28, 126 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10989-022-10433-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10989-022-10433-x