Penicillium chrysogenum antifungal protein PAF, a promising tool for the development of new antifungal therapies and fungal cell biology studies

In recent years the interest in antimicrobial proteins and peptides and their mode of action has been rapidly increasing due to their potential to prevent and combat microbial infections in all areas of life. A detailed knowledge about the function of such proteins is the most important requirement...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS 2008-02, Vol.65 (3), p.445-454
Main Authors: Marx, F, Binder, U, Leiter, É, Pócsi, I
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antifungal Agents - pharmacology
Antifungal Agents - therapeutic use
Antifungal protein
Apoptosis
Aspergillus - drug effects
Aspergillus fumigatus
Aspergillus nidulans
Bacterial Proteins - pharmacology
Bacterial Proteins - therapeutic use
Biochemistry
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Cell Biology
Cell Polarity
Cellular biology
Endocytosis
Fungi
growth inhibition
heterotrimeric G-protein signaling
Life Sciences
Microbiology
Mode of action
oxidative stress
Penicillium chrysogenum
Penicillium chrysogenum - chemistry
Penicillium chrysogenum - metabolism
Peptides
Plant pathology
plasma membrane hyperpolarization
Proteins
Reactive Oxygen Species - metabolism
Review
Signal Transduction - physiology
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Summary:In recent years the interest in antimicrobial proteins and peptides and their mode of action has been rapidly increasing due to their potential to prevent and combat microbial infections in all areas of life. A detailed knowledge about the function of such proteins is the most important requirement to consider them for future application. Our research in recent years has been focused on the low molecular weight, cysteine-rich and cationic antifungal protein PAF from Penicillium chrysogenum, which inhibits the growth of opportunistic zoo-pathogens including Aspergillus fumigatus, numerous plant-pathogenic fungi and the model organism Aspergillus nidulans. So far, the experimental results indicate that PAF elicits hyperpolarization of the plasma membrane and the activation of ion channels, followed by an increase in reactive oxygen species in the cell and the induction of an apoptosis-like phenotype. Detailed knowledge about the molecular mechanism of action of antifungal proteins such as PAF contributes to the development of new antimicrobial strategies that are urgently needed.
ISSN:1420-682X
1420-9071
DOI:10.1007/s00018-007-7364-8