{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T19:55:56Z","timestamp":1790193356962,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,31]],"date-time":"2022-08-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1661904000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006769","name":"Russian Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["22-25-00654"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22-25-00654"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006769","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Membranes"],"abstract":"<jats:p>An increase in the frequency of mycoses and spreading of multidrug-resistant fungal pathogens necessitates the search for new antifungal agents. Earlier, we isolated the novel defensin from lentil Lensculinaris seeds, designated as Lc-def, which inhibited the growth of phytopathogenic fungi. Here, we studied an antifungal activity of Lc-def against human pathogenic Candida species, structural stability of the defensin, and its immunomodulatory effects that may help to prevent fungal infection. We showed that Lc-def caused 50% growth inhibition of clinical isolates of Candida albicans, C. krusei, and C. glabrata at concentrations of 25\u201350 \u03bcM, but was not toxic to different human cells. The lentil defensin was resistant to proteolysis by C. albicans and was not cleaved during simulated gastroduodenal digestion. By using the multiplex xMAP assay, we showed for the first time for plant defensins that Lc-def increased the production of such essential for immunity to candidiasis pro-inflammatory cytokines as IL-12 and IL-17 at the concentration of 2 \u03bcM. Thus, we hypothesized that the lentil Lc-def and plant defensins in general may be effective in suppressing of mucocutaneous candidiasis due to their antifungal activity, high structural stability, and ability to activate a protective immune response.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/membranes12090855","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,1]],"date-time":"2022-09-01T01:50:51Z","timestamp":1661997051000},"page":"855","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Antifungal Activity, Structural Stability, and Immunomodulatory Effects on Human Immune Cells of Defensin from the Lentil Lens culinaris"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Ekaterina I.","family":"Finkina","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"M.M. Shemyakin & Yu.A. Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, The Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya St. 16\/10, 117997 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8887-2898","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ivan V.","family":"Bogdanov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"M.M. Shemyakin & Yu.A. Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, The Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya St. 16\/10, 117997 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anastasia A.","family":"Ignatova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"M.M. Shemyakin & Yu.A. Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, The Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya St. 16\/10, 117997 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marina D.","family":"Kanushkina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"M.M. Shemyakin & Yu.A. Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, The Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya St. 16\/10, 117997 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ekaterina A.","family":"Egorova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"G.N. Gabrichevsky Research Institute for Epidemiology and Microbiology, Admiral Makarov St. 10, 125212 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alexander D.","family":"Voropaev","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"G.N. Gabrichevsky Research Institute for Epidemiology and Microbiology, Admiral Makarov St. 10, 125212 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elena A.","family":"Stukacheva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"M.M. Shemyakin & Yu.A. Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, The Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya St. 16\/10, 117997 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5950-249X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tatiana V.","family":"Ovchinnikova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"M.M. Shemyakin & Yu.A. Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, The Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya St. 16\/10, 117997 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Van Rhijn, N., and Michael Bromley, M. (2021). The consequences of our changing environment on life threatening and debilitating fungal diseases in humans. J. 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