A scFv phage targeting the C. albicans cell wall screened from a bacteriophage-based library of induced immune protection in mice.

C. albicans is the most prevalent opportunistic fungal and can cause life-threatening systemic infections under certain circumstances. The inefficiency and resistance of traditional therapy make the development of novel techniques indispensable. The main components, proteins and glycoproteins, of the C. albicans cell wall are highly immunogenic and very different from those of the host, making it an ideal source of targets for antifungal drug development. This study aimed to screen and identify specific peptides that bind to the C. albicans cell wall using a phage-display peptide library, and to develop a peptide-based therapy targeted to C. albicans. After four rounds of screening, JC-1 ScFv was found to bind to the C. albicans cell wall specifically, inhibit C. albicans growth and viability in vitro, and protect mice from C. albicans infection in vivo. Further study showed that JC-1 could provoke an immune response in C. albicans-infected mice. These results indicated that JC-1 ScFv screened from a phage-display peptide library had the potential to be developed as a vector for targeting C. albicans.