Table 1.
Recently studied antifungal defensins from fungal, plant, and animal sources.
| AMP | Organism of origin | Antifungal spectrum | Antifungal activity | Mode of action | Cytotoxicity | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fungi | ||||||
| PAF | Penicillium chrysogenum | Several species of Zygomycetes, Ascomycetes, and Basidiomycota | MIC: 1–200 μg/ml | Interaction with G protein signal transduction pathways, leading to production of ROS and induction of apoptosis | Non-toxic to mammalian cells | Kaiserer et al. (2003); Marx (2004); Galgóczy etal. (2005,2007,2008); Barna etal. (2008) |
| AFP | Aspergillus giganteus | Several species of Ascomycetes | MIC: 1–200 μg/ml | Specific inhibition of the chitin synthase III and V, interfering with cell wall biosynthesis | Non-toxic to mammalian cells | Lacadena et al. (1995);Moreno et al. (2003); Moreno et al. (2006); Theis et al. (2003); Meyer (2008) |
| Bubble protein | Penicillium brevicompactum Dierckx | Saccharomyces cerevisiae | Growth inhibition in a dose-dependent manner | n.d. | n.d. | Olsen et al. (2004); Seibold et al. (2011) |
| Plant | ||||||
| Psd1 | Pea (Pisum sativum) | Aspergillus spp.; Fusarium solani; Neurospora crassa; Candida albicans | IC50: 0.04–21.7 μg/ml; MIC C. albicans: 20 μM | Impairment of progression of cell cycle: cyclin F; S to G2 phase transition is blocked, resulting in endoreduplication; strong interaction with ergosterol and fungal sterol-rich membranes | Reduced interaction with cholesterol-rich mammalian membranes | Almeida et al. (2000); Lobo et al. (2007); de Medeiros (2009); de Medeiros et al. (2010); Goncc (2012b) |
| RsAFP2 | Radish (Raphanus sativus) | Candida spp.; Aspergillus flavus; Fusarium solani | IC30 C. albicans: 10 μg/ml. Reduced cell viability in all Candida spp. tested with up to 10 μM of RsAFP2 | Interaction with glucosylceramides; membrane permeabilization; ROS production; cell growth arrest; apoptosis induction; caspase activation; yeast-to-hypha transition blocking; septin localization; ceramide accumulation; altered cell wall shape | Non-toxic to mammalian cells | Aerts etal. (2007,2009); Tavares et al. (2008); Thevissen et al. (2012) |
| HsAFP1 | Coral bells (Heuchera sanguinea) | Neurospora crassa; Candida albicans | IC50 Neurospora crassa: 4 μg/ml | Interaction with cell membrane (hypha); ROS formation; apoptosis induction | n.d. | Thevissen et al. (1997); Aerts et al. (2011) |
| Animal | ||||||
| Arthropod | ||||||
| Coprisin | Korean dung beetle (Copris tripartitus) | Aspergillus spp.; Candida spp.; Malassezia furfur; Trichosporon beigelii; Trichophyton rubrum | MIC: 5–20 μM | Apoptosis induction; ROS formation; disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential; cytochrome c release; intracellular metacaspase activation | No hemolytic activity on human erythrocytes | Lee etal. (2012) |
| Juruin | Amazonian pink toe spider (Avicularia juruensis) | Candida spp.; Aspergillus niger | MIC: 2.5–10 μM; fungicidal activity, rather than fungistatic | n.d. | No hemolytic activity on human erythrocytes | Ayroza etal. (2012) |
| Reptile | ||||||
| Crotamine | South-American rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus terrificus) | Candida spp.; Trichosporon spp.; Cryptococcus neoformans | MIC: 12.5–50 μg/ml; fungicidal activity, rather than fungistatic | Pronounced ultrastructural alterations; membrane collapse; cytoplasmic coagulation | No hemolytic activity on human erythrocytes; CC50 > 50 μM against non-tumoral animal and human cells | Yamane etal. (2013) |