In silico approach revealed the membrane receptor PHO36 as a new target for synthetic anticandidal peptides.

Aim: Synthetic antimicrobial peptides (SAMPs) present the potential to fight systemic fungal infections. Here, the PHO36 receptor from Candida albicans was analyzed by in silico tools as a possible target for three anticandidal SAMPs: Rc Alb-PepIII, PepGAT and PepKAA. Materials & methods: Molecular docking, dynamics and quantum biochemistry were employed to understand the individual contribution of amino acid residues in the interaction region. Results: The results revealed that SAMPs strongly interact with the PHO36 by multiple high-energy interactions. This is the first study to employ quantum biochemistry to describe the interactions between SAMPs and the PHO36 receptor. Conclusion: This work contributes to understanding and identifying new molecular targets with medical importance that could be used to discover new drugs against systemic fungal infections.