Wickerhamomyces Yeast Killer Toxins' Medical Applications

• Published in: Toxins Vol. 13; no. 9; p. 655
• Main Authors: Giovati, Laura, Ciociola, Tecla, De Simone, Tiziano, Conti, Stefania, Magliani, Walter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 15.09.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Anti-Infective Agents - therapeutic use; Anti-Infective Agents - toxicity; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; antimicrobial activity; Antimicrobial agents; Arthropods; Bacteria; Cell cycle; Chemical compounds; Communicable Diseases - drug therapy; Cytotoxins - therapeutic use; Food; Humans; Immunology; Infectious diseases; Killer Factors, Yeast - therapeutic use; Killer Factors, Yeast - toxicity; killer toxins; killer yeasts; medical applications; Microorganisms; Parasites; Pathogens; Pharmacology; Review; Saccharomycetales - chemistry; Toxins; Vaccine Development; Wickerhamomyces anomalus; Yeast; Yeasts; medical applications; Wickerhamomyces anomalus; antimicrobial activity; killer toxins; killer yeasts
• ISSN: 2072-6651; 2072-6651
• DOI: 10.3390/toxins13090655

Possible implications and applications of the yeast killer phenomenon in the fight against infectious diseases are reviewed, with particular reference to some wide-spectrum killer toxins (KTs) produced by and other related species. A perspective on the applications of these KTs in the medical field is provided considering (1) a direct use of killer strains, in particular in the symbiotic control of arthropod-borne diseases; (2) a direct use of KTs as experimental therapeutic agents; (3) the production, through the idiotypic network, of immunological derivatives of KTs and their use as potential anti-infective therapeutics. Studies on immunological derivatives of KTs in the context of vaccine development are also described.