KT

Peptides derived from the sequence of a single-chain, recombinant, antiidiotypic antibody (IdAb; KT-scFv) acting as a functional internal image of a microbicidal, wide-spectrum yeast killer toxin (KT) were synthesized and studied for their antimicrobial activity by using the KT-susceptible Candida albicans as model organism. A decapeptide containing the first three amino acids (SAS) of the light chain CDR1 was selected and optimized by alanine replacement of a single residue. This peptide exerted a strong candidacidal activity in vitro, with a 50% inhibitory concentration of 0.056 μM, and was therefore designated killer peptide (KP). Its activity was neutralized by laminarin, a 1-3 glucan molecule, but not by pustulan, a 1-6 glucan molecule. KP also competed with the binding of a KT-like monoclonal IdAb to germinating cells of the fungus. In a rat model of vaginal candidiasis, local, postchallenge administration of KP was efficacious in rapidly abating infections caused by fluconazole-susceptible or -resistant C. albicans strains. In systemic infection of BALB/c or SCID mice preinfected intravenously with a lethal fungal load, KP caused a highly significant prolongation of the median survival time, with>80% of the animals still surviving after>60 days, whereas>90% of control mice died within 3 to 5 days. KP is therefore the first engineered peptide derived from a recombinant IdAb retaining KT microbicidal activity, probably through the interaction with the -glucan KT receptor on target microbial cells.