Liliána Tóth

Liliána Tóth


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

11Years (2016-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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15 September 2016 in AMB Express
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
LTLiliána Tóth
Liliána Tóth
ZKZoltán Kele
Zoltán Kele
Attila BoricsAttila Borics
Attila Borics
LNLászló G. Nagy
László G. Nagy
GVGyörgyi Váradi
Györgyi Váradi
László GalgóczyLászló Galgóczy
László Galgóczy
The increasing incidence of fungal infections and damages due to drug-resistant fungi urges the development of new antifungal strategies. The cysteine-rich antifungal proteins from filamentous ascomycetes provide a feasible base for protection against molds due to their potent antifungal activity on them. In contrast to this, they show no or weak activity on yeasts, hence their applicability against this group of fungi is questionable. In the present study a 5.6 kDa anti-yeast protein (NFAP2) is isolated, identified and characterized from the ferment broth of Neosartorya fischeri NRRL 181. Based on a phylogenetic analysis, NFAP2 and its putative homologs represent a new group of ascomycetous cysteine-rich antifungal proteins. NFAP2 proved to be highly effective against tested yeasts involving clinically relevant Candida species. NFAP2 did not cause metabolic inactivity and apoptosis induction, but its plasma membrane disruption ability was observed on Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The antifungal activity was maintained after high temperature treatment presumably due to the in silico predicted stable tertiary structure. The disulfide bond-stabilized, heat-resistant folded structure of NFAP2 was experimentally proved. After further investigations of antifungal mechanism, structure and toxicity, NFAP2 could be applicable as a potent antifungal agent against yeasts.