Bioconjugation of Antimicrobial peptides and Ciprofloxacin

• Grant number: 24/06164-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2024
• End date: July 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Chemistry of Macromolecules
• Principal Investigator: Eduardo Maffud Cilli
• Grantee: Stefano Moschetta Assef
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a relevant public health issue worldwide. Even though UTIs cause more harm to impoverished populations, without healthcare or access to antibiotics, they are evenly spread throughout the globe. The main symptoms include pain and discomfort while urinating, frequent urination and cloudy and malodorous urine, due to the presence of bacteria. UTI causing pathogens are usually found in the patient's own microbiome. Frequently, in women and geriatric patients, UTIs are recurrent, leading to frequent use of antibiotics. Other than jeopardizing the integrity of the patient's own microbiome, the excessive use of antibiotic medication can induce the selection of naturally resistant strands of bacteria, aggravating even more the public health hazard. The lack of development of new antibiotic drugs as well the misuse of the ones already available makes the resistant bacteria era a very possible reality. This project has the goal to evaluate the viability of two peptides, one of which is extracted from a North-African amphibian (Pelophylax saharica), TSHa, and the other one is a dimeric peptide, called (desCys11/Lys12/Lys13(p-BthTX-I)2K) (p-Bt), conjugated to ciprofloxacin (an antibiotic that is commonly prescribed for UTIs) as a new therapeutic alternative. It is expected that these bioconjugates show higher efficacy than the peptides and antibiotic alone, so that it could become a new alternative to treat patients with UTIs.