K Thevissen

..This is the first report on the interaction of a plant defensin with glucosylceramides in the fungal cell wall, causing cell wall stress, and on the effects of a defensin on septin localization and ceramide accumulation...

..Additionally, this review discusses putative therapeutic approaches inhibiting ceramide production in apoptotic diseases...

..Together, these data demonstrate the power and advantages of the yeast system to uncover novel cellular factors governing life and death, placing yeast at the forefront of apoptosis research...

..In this review, we will further discuss the putative therapeutic potential of the antifungal carbazole compounds as antimycotics...

..These data point to a negative regulation of autophagy by both Ipt1 and Skn1 in yeast, with a putative involvement of phytosphingosine in this process...

..Moreover, addition of those compounds to Candida-infected C. elegans cultures resulted in increased survival of Candida-infected worms, demonstrating their in vivo efficacy in a mini-host model...

..These compounds include plant and insect defensins, syringomycin E and antifungal antibodies to sphingolipids...

..Our data support a model in which membrane patches containing sphingolipids act as binding sites for DmAMP1 or, alternatively, are required to anchor membrane or cell wall-associated proteins, which themselves interact with DmAMP1...

..In conclusion, this study describes a direct link between ceramide metabolism in yeast and mitochondrial and vacuolar fragmentation and function, with consequences for chronological lifespan in yeast...

..Our results are consistent with the notion that thionins inhibit fungal growth as a result of direct protein-membrane interactions, whereas plant defensins might act via a different, possibly receptor-mediated, mechanism...

..We think that cation-resistant permeabilization is binding site mediated and linked to the primary cause of fungal growth inhibition induced by plant defensins...

..These results show that SKN1, together with IPT1, is involved in sphingolipid biosynthesis in S. cerevisiae...

..This review summarizes current knowledge concerning the mode of antifungal action of plant, insect and human defensins...

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..In this review, the mode of action and antifungal spectrum of these classes are discussed, together with possible resistance development against them...

..We further show that this primary role of membrane rafts in miconazole action consists of mediating intracellular accumulation of miconazole in yeast cells...

..cerevisiae and that this interaction is enhanced in the presence of equimolar concentrations of ergosterol. Therefore, DmAMP1 antifungal action involving membrane interaction with sphingolipids and ergosterol is proposed...

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..Moreover, we could link the fungicidal mode of action of the piperazine-1-carboxamidine derivatives to the accumulation of endogenous ROS...

..All these data confirm the importance of functional mitochondria and respiration in determining yeast chronological lifespan and apoptosis...

..e. C18-DHS). DHS derivatives that were active, that is, comprising 12, 15, 17, or 18 carbon atoms, induced accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in C. albicans...

..This review will focus on different classes of complex lipids in fungal membranes and on the selective interaction of plant defensins with these complex lipids...

..Studies evaluating their in vivo antifungal efficacy demonstrate their therapeutic potential...

..In addition, DmTn11 and HsTnII are characterized by increased and reduced oxidative stress resistance/chronological life-span (CL), respectively. A putative involvement of M(IP)2C in oxidative stress and CL in yeast is discussed...

..Evidence is provided to link these clear differences in sphingolipid profiles of N. crassa mutants with their resistance towards different plant defensins...

..These data provide novel mechanistic insights in the mode of action of a ROS-inducing azole...

..Native Ib-AMPs showed no hemolytic nor toxic activity up to a concentration of 100 microM. All these data demonstrate the potential of the native Ib-AMPs to combat fungal infections...

..Moreover, our data point to the existence of at least two different types of caspases or caspase-like proteases in C. albicans...

..This review focuses on the classification of plant defensins in general and in Arabidopsis specifically, and on the mode of action of plant defensins against fungal pathogens...

..Some of these defensins have been found to interact with fungal-specific components in the plasmamembrane, resulting in membrane permeabilization. This makes them an attractive source of potential therapeutics to treat fungal infections...

..These data point to the presence of an intracellular plant defensin-induced signaling cascade, which involves ROS generation and leads to fungal cell growth arrest...

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..These results show that the terminal sphingolipid but not IPT1 expression is required for fungicidal activity, and they suggest an IPT1-independent route for mannosyldiinositolphosphoceramide biosynthesis...

..Furthermore, all peptides inhibited growth of fungi. Experiments with SYTOX green suggested that this effect is related to membrane permeabilization...

..The potential implications of these findings with respect to defensin resistance in the N. crassa mutants are discussed...