Development of a novel anti-biofilm peptide derived from profilin of .

yeast infections are the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. Peptides with antimicrobial activity are a promising alternative treatment for such infections. Here, the antifungal activity of a new antimicrobial peptide-PEP-IA18-was evaluated against species. PEP-IA18 was designed from the primary sequence of profilin, a protein from and displayed potent activity against and , showing a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 2.5µM. Furthermore, the mechanism of action of PEP-IA18 involved interaction with the cell membrane (ergosterol complexation). Treatment at MIC and/or 10×MIC significantly reduced biofilm formation and viability. PEP-IA18 showed low toxicity toward human fibroblasts and only revealed hemolytic activity at high concentrations. Thus, PEP-IA18 exhibited antifungal and anti-biofilm properties with potential applicability in the treatment of infections caused by species.