Bio- and Nanotechnology as the Key for Clinical Application of Salivary Peptide Histatin: A Necessary Advance

Abstract

<jats:p>Candida albicans is a common microorganism of human’s microbiota and can be easily found in both respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts as well as in the genitourinary tract. Approximately 30% of people will be infected by C. albicans during their lifetime. Due to its easy adaptation, this microorganism started to present high resistance to antifungal agents which is associated with their indiscriminate use. There are several reports of adaptive mechanisms that this species can present. Some of them are intrinsic alteration in drug targets, secretion of extracellular enzymes to promote host protein degradation and efflux receptors that lead to a diminished action of common antifungal and host’s innate immune response. The current review aims to bring promising alternatives for the treatment of candidiasis caused mainly by C. albicans. One of these alternatives is the use of antifungal peptides (AFPs) from the Histatin family, like histatin‐5. Besides that, our focus is to show how nanotechnology can allow the application of these peptides for treatment of this microorganism. In addition, our intention is to show the importance of nanoparticles (NPs) for this purpose, which may be essential in the near future.</jats:p>

In Silico Predicted Antifungal Peptides: In Vitro and In Vivo Anti-Candida Activity

“…Recently, a new open-access database (DRAMP) containing over twenty thousand peptides, of which more than three thousand are characterized by antifungal activity, was developed [26]. To overcome the drawbacks of AMPs in relation to their efficacy, in vivo stability, toxicity, and expensive large-scale production, new strategies have been focusing on designing synthetic mimics and developing new delivery systems [15,[27][28][29][30]. Moreover, new strategies have been developed for molecular modifications and many peptides have been studied intensively, such as histatin-5 [29], lactoferricins [31], and anoplin [32].…”

Nanoencapsulation of oral‐pharmaceutical lactoferrin using chitosan and the evaluation of stability against trypsin and pepsin and its antibacterial effect

“…Lf is involved in various physiological processes such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory, regulating the absorption of metal ions and as an effective agent, has growth inhibitory activities against a wide range of pathogens like bacteria, viruses, fungi as well as cancer cells [2]. Lf has the ability to perform antimicrobial activity against a wide range of infectious pathogenic bacteria, including gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria [3][4][5]. This effective biological activity of Lf and its association with the regulation of immune system responses has made this protein an attractive therapeutic candidate.…”

“…The special capabilities of nanotechnology can be used in the field of drug delivery in the body [10]. The use of nanotechnology can provide access to many items; these include: (1) improving the delivery of less water-soluble drugs, (2) targeted delivery of drugs to specific cells or tissues, (3) delivery of drugs through strong epithelium or endothelial barriers, (4) delivery of macromolecular drugs to intracellular sites, (5) simultaneous delivery of two or more drugs or therapies for combination therapy, (6) monitoring of drug target areas by combining drug agents with imaging agents [11,12]. Design a system that can selectively deliver the drug to the target tissue or protect the drug from enzymatic digestion and excretion by the kidney filtration system and deliver it to the target tissue without the obstruction of the biological barrier is one of the goals of treatment [13].…”

Augmented wound healing potential of photosensitive GelMA hydrogel incorporating antimicrobial peptides and MXene nanoparticles

“…This upregulates angiogenic proteins and increases vascular endothelial growth factor production, enhancing wound healing by inducing fibroblast differentiation into myofibroblasts. Fibroblast contractility is thereby promoted through enhanced α-smooth muscle actin expression ( Sali et al, 2019 ; Reis Zambom et al, 2020 ).…”