JAC Advance Access published online on February 28, 2006
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, doi:10.1093/jac/dkl051
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1 Department of Biomedical Sciences, Division of Experimental and Clinical Microbiology, University of Sassari, Viale S. Pietro 43/B, 07100 Sassari, Italy
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Objectives: To evaluate the in vitro microbicidal activity against Acanthamoeba castellanii of a murine monoclonal anti-idiotypic antibody (KTmAb) and a synthetic killer mimotope (KP), which mimic a yeast killer toxin (KT) characterized by a wide spectrum of antimicrobial activity through interaction with specific cell wall receptors, mainly constituted by Methods: Amoebicidal activity was investigated after incubation of trophozoites under different experimental conditions with laminarinase, KTmAb, KP and a scrambled decapeptide (SP). To confirm the specific interaction of KP with Results: KTmAb and KP exhibited a time-dependent killing activity, in comparison with SP or heat-inactivated KTmAb; this activity was completely abolished by pre-incubation with laminarin, but not by pustulan. Notably, in vitro amoebicidal activity was observed in the presence of laminarinase, an enzyme that specifically hydrolyses Conclusions: The results indicate that the expression of
Received July 28, 2005
Revised December 12, 2005
Accepted February 5, 2006
Original article
In vitro acanthamoebicidal activity of a killer monoclonal antibody and a synthetic peptide
Pier Luigi Fiori 1 *,
Antonella Mattana 2,
Daniele Dessì 1,
Stefania Conti 3,
Walter Magliani 3,
and
Luciano Polonelli 3
2 Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
3 Dipartimento di Patologia e Medicina di Laboratorio, Sezione di Microbiologia, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
Pier Luigi Fiori, E-mail: fioripl{at}uniss.it
Abstract 
-glucans.-glucans, the experiments were also carried out in the presence of laminarin (1-3-glucan) or pustulan (1-6-glucan); both glucan molecules were co-incubated with KP or SP.-glucans. Furthermore, KP specifically inhibited the growth of Acanthamoeba on infected contact lenses and the remaining adherent KP-treated trophozoites appeared strongly damaged.1-3-glucan receptors in the cell membrane is probably modulated during cell growth of A. castellanii and is critical for the killing activity of KT-like molecules. Our data confirm the broad antimicrobial spectra of KTmAb and KP, emphasize the crucial role of 1-3-glucan in microbial physiology and suggest the potential use of KTmAb and KP in the prevention and therapy of Acanthamoeba infections or in preventing Acanthamoeba contamination during storage of contact lenses.
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