Peptide News Digest

#Antifungal

2 stories

Research · View digest

Machine Learning Picks a Heat-Stable Cationic Peptide, P2, That Inhibits Candida albicans and C. parapsilosis in Lab Tests

Researchers at Mexico's Ensenada Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education (CICESE) reported in the Journal of Applied Microbiology on October 22, 2026 that of four machine-learning-selected peptides, one called P2 had the best activity profile. It inhibited two Candida albicans reference strains and a C. parapsilosis clinical isolate at 62.5 µM, while C. glabrata needed 250 µM, and it still killed bacteria after 15 minutes at 100°C. Hemolysis reached 12% at 500 µM, and human 293T cells were unaffected up to 50 µM but badly damaged at 500 µM; the work is in lab cultures only.

Research · View digest

Weizmann Institute's Lipo-Isopeptides Kill Candida, Block Biofilms, and Resist Enzymes Better Than Standard Antimicrobial Peptides

Weizmann Institute of Science researchers reported in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry on October 17, 2026 that adding isopeptide bonds and fatty-acid tails to antimicrobial peptides produced lipo-isopeptides that resisted breakdown by protein-cutting enzymes and were most active against the yeast Candida albicans. The lead compound, C8-Amp1EP, was non-toxic in their tests, reduced fungal attachment and biofilm formation when coated on surfaces and cells, disrupted the fungal membrane, and was less likely than standard antifungal drugs to select for resistance during repeated exposure. The work is in the lab.