The identification of discontinuous epitope in the human cystatin C – Monoclonal antibody HCC3 complex

Research advances in hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry for protein epitope mapping

With the development of biomedical technology, epitope mapping of proteins has become critical for developing and evaluating new protein drugs. The application of hydrogen-deuterium exchange for protein epitope mapping holds great potential. Although several reviews addressed the hydrogen-deuterium exchange, to date, only a few systematic reviews have focused on epitope mapping using this technology. Here, we introduce the basic principles, development history, and review research progress in hydrogen-deuterium exchange epitope mapping technology and discuss its advantages. We summarize the main hurdles in applying hydrogen-deuterium exchange epitope mapping technology, combined with relevant examples to provide specific solutions. We describe the epitope mapping of virus assemblies, disease-associated proteins, and polyclonal antibodies as examples of pattern introduction. Finally, we discuss the outlook of hydrogen-deuterium exchange epitope mapping technology. This review will help researchers studying protein epitopes to gain a more comprehensive understanding of this technology.

Efficacy of newly generated short antimicrobial cationic lipopeptides against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

INTRODUCTION

Infection caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (MRSA) is a serious clinical challenge and research to develop new antimicrobials is imperative.

METHODS

This study investigated the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of the short cationic dialkyl lipopeptides (C₁₀)₂-KKKK-NH₂ and (C₁₂)₂-KKKK-NH₂. The antibacterial efficacy of (C₁₀)₂-KKKK-NH₂ and (C₁₂)₂-KKKK-NH₂ was evaluated in representative clinical methicillin-susceptible S. aureus and MRSA strains by both in vitro (MIC, time-kill curve) and in vivo (wax worms model) approaches.

RESULTS

These studies revealed that both (C₁₀)₂-KKKK-NH₂ and (C₁₂)₂-KKKK-NH₂ have rapid bactericidal activity, with a decrease of > 3 log₁₀ colony forming units (CFU)/mL achieved in the first 6 hours of treatment. Furthermore, (C₁₀)₂-KKKK-NH₂ performed similarly to daptomycin, with a sustained bacterial killing after 24 hours. Wax worms infected and treated with these lipopeptides showed a decreased survival rate of 90% to 50% within the first day of treatment. Scanning electron microscopy determined that the effect of the short lipopeptides in S. aureus was associated with important morphological structural changes that may suggest cell membrane perturbation.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that the short lipopeptides (C₁₀)₂-KKKK-NH₂ and (C₁₂)₂-KKKK-NH₂ may be potential new options for treating MRSA infections.