Klaudia Szarszoń, Aleksandra Mikołajczyk, Manuela Grelich-Mucha, Robert Wieczorek, Agnieszka Matera-Witkiewicz, Joanna Olesiak-Bańska, Magdalena Rowińska-Żyrek, Joanna Wątły
The fungal cell wall and cell membrane are an important target for antifungal therapies, and a needle-like cell wall or membrane disruption may be an entirely novel antifungal mode of action. In this work, we show how the coordination of Zn(II) triggers the antifungal properties of shepherin II, a glycine- and histidine-rich antimicrobial peptide from the root of Capsella bursa-pastoris. We analyze Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes of this peptide using experimental and theoretical methods, such as: mass spectrometry, potentiometry, UV-Vis and CD spectroscopies, AFM imaging, biological activity tests and DFT calculations in order to understand the correlation between their metal binding mode, structure, morphology and biological activity...
December 29, 2023: Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry