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Yan F, Sun Y, Zhang S, Jia Y, Zhang J, Huang L, Xu Q, Zhang Y, Chen S, Wu X, Li R. Computer aided design of CGA-N9 derived peptides based on oligopeptide transporters and their antifungal evaluations. Bioorg Chem 2025; 160:108485. [PMID: 40267776 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2025.108485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2025] [Revised: 04/12/2025] [Accepted: 04/15/2025] [Indexed: 04/25/2025]
Abstract
CGA-N9 is an antifungal peptide that primarily targets Candida spp. with a mild activity. Our preceding research confirmed that the CGA-N9 crosses cell membrane with the assistance of C. tropicalis oligopeptide transporter (CtOPT) -1 and - 9. In this study, CGA-N9-derived peptides were designed following the molecular docking results with CtOPT-1 and -9. Compared with CGAN9, they exhibit higher transmembrane efficiency with the assistance of CtOPT-1 during the early phase of transmembrane processes and CtOPT-9 in the late phase. And they displayed significantly enhanced antifungal activity, with lower minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) against C. tropicalis, C. albicans, and C. parapsilosis, as well as improved biosafety. Among them, CGAN93 was the most optimizing, with a therapeutic index of 145.33. Furthermore, in a mouse model of systemic candidiasis, CGAN93 demonstrated a therapeutic effect comparable to fluconazole, significantly improving the survival rate of mice, attenuating organ damage, and enhancing the immune organ index. In conclusion, OPTs-based computer aided design is an effective strategy for enhancing the activities of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) by improving transmembrane transport efficiency. CGAN93 is a promising drug candidate for treating Candidiasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fu Yan
- Zhengzhou Key Laboratory of Functional Molecules for Biomedical Research, Henan University of Technology, 450001 Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China; School of Biological Engineering, Henan University of Technology, 450001 Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China
| | - Yiqing Sun
- Zhengzhou Key Laboratory of Functional Molecules for Biomedical Research, Henan University of Technology, 450001 Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China; School of Biological Engineering, Henan University of Technology, 450001 Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China
| | - Shaojie Zhang
- Zhengzhou Key Laboratory of Functional Molecules for Biomedical Research, Henan University of Technology, 450001 Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China; School of Biological Engineering, Henan University of Technology, 450001 Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China
| | - Yifan Jia
- Zhengzhou Key Laboratory of Functional Molecules for Biomedical Research, Henan University of Technology, 450001 Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China; School of Biological Engineering, Henan University of Technology, 450001 Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China
| | - Jinhua Zhang
- Zhengzhou Key Laboratory of Functional Molecules for Biomedical Research, Henan University of Technology, 450001 Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China; School of Biological Engineering, Henan University of Technology, 450001 Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China
| | - Liang Huang
- School of Biological Engineering, Henan University of Technology, 450001 Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China
| | - Qiang Xu
- Zhengzhou Giant Biochemical Group Co., Ltd, 450001 Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China
| | - Yinzhi Zhang
- Zhengzhou Giant Biochemical Group Co., Ltd, 450001 Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China
| | - Shihua Chen
- School of Biological Engineering, Henan University of Technology, 450001 Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China
| | - Xingquan Wu
- School of Biological Engineering, Henan University of Technology, 450001 Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China
| | - Ruifang Li
- Zhengzhou Key Laboratory of Functional Molecules for Biomedical Research, Henan University of Technology, 450001 Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China; School of Biological Engineering, Henan University of Technology, 450001 Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China.
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2
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Ma A, Deng X, Wei L, Dong Y, Zhang P, Xuan S, Zhang Z. High Antibacterial Activity and Selectivity of Cationic Disubstituted Polypeptoids with Stable Helices and Enzymatic Resistance. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2025; 17:27950-27963. [PMID: 40311149 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5c02994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2025]
Abstract
High antibacterial activity, low mammalian cell toxicity, and serum stability are crucial parameters for designing efficient antibacterial materials under physiological conditions. This relies on a deep understanding of the structure-property relationship of antibacterial materials. In this study, a series of cationic amphiphilic disubstituted polypeptoids were synthesized by using ring-opening polymerization (ROP) followed by thiol-ene click reactions. This new class of peptidomimetic materials, with chiral centers at backbones and ammonium alkyl N-substituents, exhibited remarkably stable helical structures independent of pH, temperature, salt, and denaturing agents. The helical analogs were found to show higher antibacterial activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive strains than the racemic, nonhelical counterparts. The helical structure and the balance of cationic charges and hydrophobicity were key parameters to achieve high selectivity for bacteria over mammalian cells. Moreover, unlike poly(l-lysine), the disubstituted polypeptoids, with stable helices and enzymatic resistance, retained high antibacterial activity even in the presence of salts, human serum albumin (HSA), and protease trypsin at physiological concentrations. This study deepens our understanding of how structural elements correlate with antibacterial activity and selectivity. In addition, the helical and enzymatically stable disubstituted polypeptoids have shown promise as an attractive platform for the design of new antibacterial materials with high efficiency and low toxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anyao Ma
- State and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Novel Functional Polymeric Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Design and Precision Synthesis, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Xuehua Deng
- State and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Novel Functional Polymeric Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Design and Precision Synthesis, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Luxin Wei
- The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215124, China
| | - Yutong Dong
- State and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Novel Functional Polymeric Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Design and Precision Synthesis, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
| | | | - Sunting Xuan
- State and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Novel Functional Polymeric Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Design and Precision Synthesis, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Zhengbiao Zhang
- State and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Novel Functional Polymeric Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Design and Precision Synthesis, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
- State Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Protection, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
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3
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Zhang X, Feng X, Ma L, Lei J, Li G, Zhang W, Liang H, Tong B, Wu D, Yang C, Tan L. A sonosensitive diphenylalanine-based broad-spectrum antimicrobial peptide. Nat Biomed Eng 2025:10.1038/s41551-025-01377-w. [PMID: 40316686 DOI: 10.1038/s41551-025-01377-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2025] [Indexed: 05/04/2025]
Abstract
The antimicrobial effect of antimicrobial peptides is typically slow; they can be rapidly biodegraded and often have non-selective toxicity and elaborate sequences. Here we report a short peptide that is activated by ultrasound, that shows high broad-spectrum antibacterial efficiency (>99%) against clinically isolated methicillin-resistant bacteria (specifically, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Enterobacter cancerogenus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) with 15 min of ultrasound irradiation, and that has negligible toxicity and low self-antibacterial activity. We selected the peptide, FFRKSKEK (a segment from the human host-defence LL-37 peptide), from a library of peptides with piezoelectric diphenylalanine (FF) sequences, low toxicity, hydrophobicity and net positive charge. We show via all-atom molecular dynamics simulations that ultrasound amplifies the membrane-penetrating ability of peptides with FF sequences and that its piezoelectric polarization generates reactive-oxygen species and disturbs bacterial electron-transport chains. In a goat model of hard-to-treat intervertebral infection, the sonosensitive peptide led to better outcomes than vancomycin. Antimicrobial peptides activated by ultrasound may offer a clinically relevant strategy for combating antibiotic-resistant infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoguang Zhang
- Department of Orthopaedics, Wuhan Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Xiaobo Feng
- Department of Orthopaedics, Wuhan Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Liang Ma
- Department of Orthopaedics, Wuhan Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Jie Lei
- Department of Orthopaedics, Wuhan Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Gaocai Li
- Department of Orthopaedics, Wuhan Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Weifeng Zhang
- Department of Orthopaedics, Wuhan Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Huaizhen Liang
- Department of Orthopaedics, Wuhan Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Bide Tong
- Department of Orthopaedics, Wuhan Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Di Wu
- Department of Orthopaedics, Wuhan Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Cao Yang
- Department of Orthopaedics, Wuhan Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
| | - Lei Tan
- Department of Orthopaedics, Wuhan Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
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4
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Liu J, Yao K, Sun R, Ma X, Ma C, Chen X, Jiang Y, Wang T, Chen T, Shaw C, Zhou M, Wang L. Discovery and Optimisation of Novel Bombinin-Derived Peptides from Bombina variegata against Staphylococcus aureus. Probiotics Antimicrob Proteins 2025:10.1007/s12602-025-10542-1. [PMID: 40301231 DOI: 10.1007/s12602-025-10542-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/16/2025] [Indexed: 05/01/2025]
Abstract
Amphibian skin-secreted antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have garnered significant attention for their excellent biological activity and low propensity for drug resistance over the past 40 years. Bombinins and bombinin H, two classes of AMPs isolated from the skin secretions of Bombina species, demonstrate strong antimicrobial activity against broad-spectrum microorganisms. In this study, two novel peptides, bombinin-like peptide 7S and bombinin-H2L, were identified from the toad, Bombina variegata. While both peptides exhibited broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, they also showed relatively high cytotoxicity. To explore the structure-activity relationship and enhance therapeutic potential, bombinin-H2L, which displayed stronger average antimicrobial activity, was used as a template. With the aid of bioinformatics analysis, a series of bombinin-H2L analogues were designed by increasing the net positive charges and/or adjusting the amphiphilicity of the parent peptide. Among these analogues, [Arg8, 15]BH2L and [Lys7, 8]BH2L demonstrated high therapeutic efficacy and specificity toward clinically isolated, drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains in both in vitro and ex vivo tests. Their notable biosafety profiles, sensitivity to diverse environments, and ability to disrupt biofilms highlight their potential for further development. Additionally, studies on the mechanism of [Arg8, 15]BH2L and [Lys7, 8]BH2L revealed a membrane-targeted antimicrobial mechanism, with its antibacterial function exerted by disrupting the integrity of bacterial membranes. These findings provide valuable insights into structural modifications of bombinin H peptides for enhanced activity, and [Arg8, 15]BH2L and [Lys7, 8]BH2L have the potential as promising candidates for novel antibacterial agents in treated bacterial skin infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiachen Liu
- Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT9 7BL, UK
| | - Keyi Yao
- Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT9 7BL, UK
| | - Ruize Sun
- Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT9 7BL, UK
| | - Xiaonan Ma
- Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT9 7BL, UK
| | - Chengbang Ma
- Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT9 7BL, UK
| | - Xiaoling Chen
- Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT9 7BL, UK
| | - Yangyang Jiang
- Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT9 7BL, UK.
| | - Tao Wang
- Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT9 7BL, UK.
| | - Tianbao Chen
- Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT9 7BL, UK
| | - Chris Shaw
- Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT9 7BL, UK
| | - Mei Zhou
- Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT9 7BL, UK
| | - Lei Wang
- Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT9 7BL, UK
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5
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Zorila B, Necula G, Janosi L, Turcu I, Bacalum M, Radu M. Interaction of Arginine and Tryptophan-Rich Short Antimicrobial Peptides with Membrane Models: A Combined Fluorescence, Simulations, and Theoretical Approach. J Chem Inf Model 2025; 65:3723-3736. [PMID: 40178359 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.5c00139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/05/2025]
Abstract
The augmented increase in bacterial antimicrobial resistance necessitates the discovery of alternative antimicrobial molecules such as short antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with antimicrobial activity and low cytotoxicity. While many such peptides have been studied, their selective affinity for bacterial versus mammalian membranes remains unclear. Here, we propose a complementary approach using state-of-the-art fluorescence experiments, molecular dynamics simulations, and theoretical techniques. The main goal of this approach is to unravel the energetics and molecular interactions of AMPs with different membrane models at the lipid-water interface. We use short Trp- and Arg-rich AMPs, pure phosphatidylcholine (PC), and an 85:15 mixture of PC with phosphatidylglycerol (PG) lipids for the mammalian and bacterial model membranes, respectively. First, we found that the electrostatic interaction of PG headgroups with Arg enhances the peptide interaction with mixed bilayers by 25-30%, leading to increased hydrogen bonding and stronger membrane adhesion. Second, the obtained Gibbs free energies revealed significantly distinct partitioning of the AMP at the interface for the two bilayers, suggesting a qualitatively different insertion method of cationic AMPs into each of the two membrane models. These results highlight the potential of our approach to unravel the membrane selectivity of an AMP in the context of AMP-based rational design of antibiotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bogdan Zorila
- Department of Life and Environmental Physics, Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering, 077125 Magurele, Romania
| | - George Necula
- Department of Computational Physics and Information Technologies, Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering, 077125 Magurele, Romania
| | - Lorant Janosi
- Department of Molecular and Biomolecular Physics, National Institute for Research and Development of Istotopic and Molecular Technologies, 67-103 Donat Street, 400293 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Ioan Turcu
- Department of Molecular and Biomolecular Physics, National Institute for Research and Development of Istotopic and Molecular Technologies, 67-103 Donat Street, 400293 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Mihaela Bacalum
- Department of Life and Environmental Physics, Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering, 077125 Magurele, Romania
| | - Mihai Radu
- Department of Life and Environmental Physics, Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering, 077125 Magurele, Romania
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6
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Kiper E, Ben Hur D, Alfandari D, Camacho AC, Wani NA, Efrat GD, Morandi MI, Goldsmith M, Rotkopf R, Kamyshinsky R, Deshmukh A, Binte Zulkifli NE, Asmari N, Penedo M, Fantner G, Porat Z, Azuri I, Rosenhek-Goldian I, Chitnis CE, Shai Y, Regev-Rudzki N. Antimicrobial peptides selectively target malaria parasites by a cholesterol-dependent mechanism. J Biol Chem 2025; 301:108298. [PMID: 39971158 PMCID: PMC11993164 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2025.108298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2024] [Revised: 02/02/2025] [Accepted: 02/05/2025] [Indexed: 02/21/2025] Open
Abstract
Hundreds of thousands die annually from malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum (Pf), with the emergence of drug-resistant parasites hindering eradication efforts. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are known for their ability to disrupt pathogen membranes without targeting specific receptors, thereby reducing the chance of drug resistance. However, their effectiveness and the biophysical mechanisms by which they target the intracellular parasite remain unexplored. Here, by using native and synthetic AMPs, we discovered a selective mechanism that underlies the antimalarial activity. Remarkably, the AMPs exclusively interact with Pf-infected red blood cells, disrupting the cytoskeletal network and reaching the enclosed parasites with correlation to their activity. Moreover, we showed that the unique feature of reduced cholesterol content in the membrane of the infected host makes Pf-infected red blood cells susceptible to AMPs. Overall, this work highlights the Achilles' heel of malaria parasite and demonstrates the power of AMPs as potential antimalarial drugs with reduced risk of resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edo Kiper
- Faculty of Biochemistry, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Daniel Ben Hur
- Faculty of Biochemistry, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Daniel Alfandari
- Faculty of Biochemistry, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Abel Cruz Camacho
- Faculty of Biochemistry, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Naiem Ahmad Wani
- Faculty of Biochemistry, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Gal David Efrat
- Faculty of Biochemistry, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Mattia I Morandi
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Science, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Moshe Goldsmith
- Faculty of Biochemistry, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Ron Rotkopf
- Bioinformatics Unit, Department of Life Sciences Core Facilities, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Roman Kamyshinsky
- Department of Chemical Research Support, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Arunaditya Deshmukh
- Unité de Biologie de Plasmodium et Vaccins, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | - Nur Elyza Binte Zulkifli
- Unité de Biologie de Plasmodium et Vaccins, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | - Navid Asmari
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Laboratory for Bio- and Nano-Instrumentation, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Marcos Penedo
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Laboratory for Bio- and Nano-Instrumentation, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Georg Fantner
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Laboratory for Bio- and Nano-Instrumentation, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Ziv Porat
- Department of Life Sciences Core Facilities, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Ido Azuri
- Bioinformatics Unit, Department of Life Sciences Core Facilities, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Irit Rosenhek-Goldian
- Department of Chemical Research Support, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Chetan E Chitnis
- Unité de Biologie de Plasmodium et Vaccins, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | - Yechiel Shai
- Faculty of Biochemistry, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
| | - Neta Regev-Rudzki
- Faculty of Biochemistry, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
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7
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Aguilar S, Moreira D, Pereira Lourenço AL, Wilke N, Crosio MA, Vasconcelos A, Barbosa EA, Bispo ECI, Saldanha-Araujo F, Ramada MHS, Escobar FM, Torres CV, Leite JRSA, Marani MM. Enhancing Antimicrobial Peptides from Frog Skin: A Rational Approach. Biomolecules 2025; 15:449. [PMID: 40149984 PMCID: PMC11939955 DOI: 10.3390/biom15030449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2025] [Revised: 03/14/2025] [Accepted: 03/17/2025] [Indexed: 03/29/2025] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance is a global health threat, which has been worsened by the slow development of new antibiotics. The rational design of natural-derived antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) offers a promising alternative for enhancing the efficacy of AMPs and accelerating drug discovery. This paper describes the rational design of improved peptide derivatives starting from hylin-Pul3, a peptide previously isolated from the frog Boana pulchella, by optimizing its hydrophobicity, cationicity, and amphipathicity. In silico screening identified six promising candidates: dHP3-31, dHP3-50, dHP3-50.137, dHP3-50.190, dHP3-84, and dHP3-84.39. These derivatives exhibited enhanced activity against Gram-negative bacteria, emphasizing the role of cationicity and the strategic arginine incorporation. Hemolytic assays revealed the derivatives' improved selectivity, particularly for the derivatives with "imperfect amphipathicity". In fibroblast assays, dHP3-84 was well-tolerated, while dHP3-84.39 promoted cell proliferation. Antioxidant assays (ABTS assays) highlighted the Trp-containing derivatives' (dHP3-50.137, dHP3-31) significant activity. The lipid membrane interaction studies showed that hylin-Pul3 disrupts membranes directly, while dHP3-84.39, dHP3-50, and dHP3-50.137 promote vesicle aggregation. Conversely, dHP3-84 did not induce membrane disruption or aggregation, suggesting an intracellular mode of action. Machine learning models were effective in predicting bioactivity, as these predicted AMPs showed enhanced selectivity and potency. Among them, dHP3-84 demonstrated broad-spectrum potential. These findings highlight the value of rational design, in silico screening, and structure-activity studies in optimizing AMPs for therapeutic applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvana Aguilar
- IPEEC-CONICET, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Puerto Madryn U9120ACD, Argentina;
| | - Daniel Moreira
- Research Center in Morphology and Applied Immunology, NuPMIA, Faculty of Medicine, University of Brasília, UnB, Brasília 70910-900, DF, Brazil; (D.M.); (A.V.); (E.A.B.); (J.R.S.A.L.)
| | - Ana Laura Pereira Lourenço
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília, Taguatinga 71966-700, DF, Brazil; (A.L.P.L.); (M.H.S.R.)
| | - Natalia Wilke
- Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Departamento de Química Biológica Ranwel Caputto, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba X5000HUA, Argentina; (N.W.); (M.A.C.)
- Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba (CIQUIBIC), CONICET, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba X5000HUA, Argentina
| | - Matías A. Crosio
- Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Departamento de Química Biológica Ranwel Caputto, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba X5000HUA, Argentina; (N.W.); (M.A.C.)
- Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba (CIQUIBIC), CONICET, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba X5000HUA, Argentina
| | - Andreanne Vasconcelos
- Research Center in Morphology and Applied Immunology, NuPMIA, Faculty of Medicine, University of Brasília, UnB, Brasília 70910-900, DF, Brazil; (D.M.); (A.V.); (E.A.B.); (J.R.S.A.L.)
- University Center of the Federal District, UDF, Brasília 70390-045, DF, Brazil
| | - Eder Alves Barbosa
- Research Center in Morphology and Applied Immunology, NuPMIA, Faculty of Medicine, University of Brasília, UnB, Brasília 70910-900, DF, Brazil; (D.M.); (A.V.); (E.A.B.); (J.R.S.A.L.)
- Laboratory of Synthesis and Analysis of Biomolecules, LSAB, Institute of Chemistry, IQ, University of Brasília, UnB, Brasília 70910-900, DF, Brazil
| | - Elizabete C. I. Bispo
- Laboratory of Hematology and Stem Cells, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Brasília, UnB, Brasília 70910-900, DF, Brazil; (E.C.I.B.); (F.S.-A.)
| | - Felipe Saldanha-Araujo
- Laboratory of Hematology and Stem Cells, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Brasília, UnB, Brasília 70910-900, DF, Brazil; (E.C.I.B.); (F.S.-A.)
| | - Marcelo H. S. Ramada
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília, Taguatinga 71966-700, DF, Brazil; (A.L.P.L.); (M.H.S.R.)
| | - Franco M. Escobar
- Departamento de Microbiología e Inmunología, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, Ruta 36, Km 601, Río Cuarto 5800, Argentina; (F.M.E.); (C.V.T.)
| | - Cristina V. Torres
- Departamento de Microbiología e Inmunología, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, Ruta 36, Km 601, Río Cuarto 5800, Argentina; (F.M.E.); (C.V.T.)
| | - José R. S. A. Leite
- Research Center in Morphology and Applied Immunology, NuPMIA, Faculty of Medicine, University of Brasília, UnB, Brasília 70910-900, DF, Brazil; (D.M.); (A.V.); (E.A.B.); (J.R.S.A.L.)
| | - Mariela M. Marani
- IPEEC-CONICET, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Puerto Madryn U9120ACD, Argentina;
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8
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Perez HA, Brandan MA, Disalvo A, Frías MDLA. Differential insertion of arginine in saturated and unsaturated lipid vesicles. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA. BIOMEMBRANES 2025; 1867:184405. [PMID: 39706462 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2024.184405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2024] [Revised: 10/24/2024] [Accepted: 12/12/2024] [Indexed: 12/23/2024]
Abstract
In this work, the effects of L- Arginine (L-Arg) insertion on saturated and unsaturated lipid membranes were assessed by fluorescence spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and monolayer measurements. The studied systems were composed by DPPC, 16:0 DietherPC, 16:1 Δ9-CisPC, DPPC:Chol, 16:1 Δ9-CisPC:Chol, and 16:1 Δ9-CisPC:DPPC in the presence of increasing concentrations of L-Arg. The information obtained using fluorescence spectral Laurdan properties indicates that L- Arg produces a decrease in the polarizability of saturated lipids congruent with the increase in vesicle size and area per lipid. However, in unsaturated lipids, the polarizability increases without significant changes in size and area per lipid denoting a different mechanism of insertion. The two opposite effects can be modulated by the saturated and unsaturated ratio and are independent of carbonyl groups. This modulation is damped by cholesterol. The differences in the L-Arg insertion can be explained considering that in the presence of the double bonds, L-Arg decreases the organized water in the lipid matrix without expanding the bilayer. Instead, in saturated lipid membranes, L-Arg inserts into the acyl chains dragging water and expanding the membrane area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo A Perez
- Applied Biophysics and Food Research Center (Centro de Investigaciones en Biofísica Aplicada y Alimentos, CIBAAL, National University of Santiago del Estero and CONICET), RN 9 - Km 1125, 4206 Santiago del Estero, Argentina
| | - María A Brandan
- Applied Biophysics and Food Research Center (Centro de Investigaciones en Biofísica Aplicada y Alimentos, CIBAAL, National University of Santiago del Estero and CONICET), RN 9 - Km 1125, 4206 Santiago del Estero, Argentina
| | - Aníbal Disalvo
- Applied Biophysics and Food Research Center (Centro de Investigaciones en Biofísica Aplicada y Alimentos, CIBAAL, National University of Santiago del Estero and CONICET), RN 9 - Km 1125, 4206 Santiago del Estero, Argentina
| | - María de Los A Frías
- Applied Biophysics and Food Research Center (Centro de Investigaciones en Biofísica Aplicada y Alimentos, CIBAAL, National University of Santiago del Estero and CONICET), RN 9 - Km 1125, 4206 Santiago del Estero, Argentina.
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9
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Strandberg E, Horten P, Bentz D, Wadhwani P, Bürck J, Ulrich AS. Trp residues near peptide termini enhance the membranolytic activity of cationic amphipathic α-helices. Biophys Chem 2025; 318:107365. [PMID: 39657392 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpc.2024.107365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2024] [Revised: 11/24/2024] [Accepted: 11/28/2024] [Indexed: 12/12/2024]
Abstract
KIA peptides were designed as a series of cationic antimicrobial agents of different lengths, based on the repetitive motif [KIAGKIA]. As amphiphilic helices, they tend to bind initially to the surface of lipid membranes. Depending on the conditions, they are proposed to flip, insert and form toroidal pores, such that the peptides are aligned in a transmembrane orientation. Tryptophan residues are often found near the ends of transmembrane helices, anchoring them to the amphiphilic bilayer interfaces. Hence, we introduced Trp residues near one or both termini of KIA peptides with lengths of 14-24 amino acids. Our hypothesis was that if Trp residues can stabilize the transmembrane orientation, then these KIA peptides will exhibit an increased propensity to form pores, with increased membranolytic activity. Using solid-state 15N NMR, we found that peptides with Trp near the ends are indeed more likely to be flipped into a transmembrane orientation, especially short peptides. Short KIA peptides also exhibited higher antimicrobial activity when modified with Trp, while longer peptides showed similar activities with and without Trp. The hemolytic activity of KIA peptides of all lengths was higher with Trp near the ends. Vesicle leakage was also increased (sometimes more than 10-fold) for the Trp-mutants, especially in thicker membranes. Higher functionality of amphiphilic helices may thus be achieved in general by exploiting the anchoring effect of Trp. These results demonstrate that the incorporation of Trp increases membranolytic activities (vesicle leakage, hemolysis and antimicrobial activity), in a way compatible with a transmembrane pore model of peptide activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik Strandberg
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Biological Interfaces (IBG-2), POB 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany.
| | - Patrick Horten
- KIT, Institute of Organic Chemistry, Fritz-Haber-Weg 6, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - David Bentz
- KIT, Institute of Organic Chemistry, Fritz-Haber-Weg 6, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Parvesh Wadhwani
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Biological Interfaces (IBG-2), POB 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Jochen Bürck
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Biological Interfaces (IBG-2), POB 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Anne S Ulrich
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Biological Interfaces (IBG-2), POB 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany; KIT, Institute of Organic Chemistry, Fritz-Haber-Weg 6, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.
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10
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Xiao S, Tian M, Liao H, Xie J, Chai J, Li J, Nguyen T, Wu J, Gao Y, Li J, Chen X, Xu X, Qingwen W. The first Ranatuerin antimicrobial peptide with LPS-neutralizing and anti-inflammatory activities in vitro and in vivo. Life Sci 2025; 363:123375. [PMID: 39788417 DOI: 10.1016/j.lfs.2025.123375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2024] [Revised: 01/01/2025] [Accepted: 01/04/2025] [Indexed: 01/12/2025]
Abstract
Pelophylax nigromaculata, common traditional Chinese medicinal material used for several hundreds of years, is one of the most widely distributed amphibians in China. In this study, a novel Ranatuerin-2 family antimicrobial peptide, Rana-2PN, was identified and characterized from its skin, and its structural characteristics and functional activities were studied extensively. First, Rana-2PN exhibited a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity, displaying minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 12.5 to 100 μM against all strains tested. Mechanistically, Rana-2PN exerted its bacteriostatic effects by binding to bacterial cells and inducing bacterial membrane rupture and subsequent bacterial death. Secondly, Rana-2PN effectively inhibited the inflammatory response in RAW264.7 cells induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and reduced inflammation induced by carrageenan in mouse toes. Thus, Rana-2PN with LPS-neutralizing, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties, represents the first member of the Ranatuerin antimicrobial peptide family, and its discovery offers a promising therapeutic candidate for addressing inflammatory disorders resulting from bacterial infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shibai Xiao
- Department of Rheumatism and Immunology, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen 518036, China; Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology/Chinese Academy of Sciences (SIAT/CAS), Shenzhen, China
| | - Maolin Tian
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Hang Liao
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Jianpeng Xie
- Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510280, China
| | - Jinwei Chai
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China; Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510280, China.
| | - Jinqiao Li
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Tienthanh Nguyen
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Jiena Wu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Yihan Gao
- Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510280, China
| | - Jiali Li
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Xin Chen
- Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510280, China
| | - Xueqing Xu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
| | - Wang Qingwen
- Department of Rheumatism and Immunology, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen 518036, China.
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11
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Dennison SR, Morton LHG, Badiani K, Harris F, Phoenix DA. The effect of C-terminal deamidation on bacterial susceptibility and resistance to modelin-5. EUROPEAN BIOPHYSICS JOURNAL : EBJ 2025; 54:45-63. [PMID: 39932554 PMCID: PMC11880157 DOI: 10.1007/s00249-025-01732-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2024] [Revised: 01/14/2025] [Accepted: 01/18/2025] [Indexed: 03/05/2025]
Abstract
The C-terminal amide carried by antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) can play a variable role in their antibacterial action and here, this role is investigated here for the synthetic peptide modelin-5 (M5-NH2). The peptide showed potent activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MLC = 5.9 µM), with strong binding to the cytoplasmic membrane (CM) (Kd = 21.5 μM) and the adoption of high levels of amphiphilic α-helical structure (80.1%) which promoted strong CM penetration (9.6 mN m-1) and CM lysis (89.0%). In contrast, Staphylococcus aureus was resistant to M5-NH2 (MLC = 139.6 µM), probably due electrostatic repulsion effects mediated by Lys-PG in the organism's CM. These effects promoted weak CM binding (Kd = 120.6 μM) and the formation of low levels of amphiphilic α-helical structure (30.1%), with low levels of CM penetration (4.8 mN m-1) and lysis (36.4%). C-terminal deamidation had a variable influence on the antibacterial activity of M5-NH2, and in the case of S. aureus, loss of this structural moiety had no apparent effect on activity. The resistance of S. aureus to M5-NH2 isoforms appeared to be facilitated by the high level of charge carried by these peptides, as well as the density and distribution of this charge. In the case of P. aeruginosa, the activity of M5-NH2 was greatly reduced by C-terminal deamidation (MLC = 138.6 µM), primarily through decreased CM binding (Kd = 118.4 μM) and amphiphilic α-helix formation (39.6%) that led to lower levels of CM penetration (5.1 mN m-1) and lysis (39.0%).
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah R Dennison
- Biomedical Evidence-Based Transdisciplinary (BEST) Health Research Institute, School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2HE, UK.
| | - Leslie H G Morton
- Biomedical Evidence-Based Transdisciplinary (BEST) Health Research Institute, School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2HE, UK
| | - Kamal Badiani
- Biosynth Ltd, 4 Feldspar Close, Warrens Park, Enderby, Leicestershire, LE19 4JS, UK
| | - Frederick Harris
- Biomedical Evidence-Based Transdisciplinary (BEST) Health Research Institute, School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2HE, UK
| | - David A Phoenix
- Office of the Vice Chancellor, London South Bank University, 103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA, UK
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12
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Bertrand B, Hernandez-Adame PL, Munoz-Garay C. How Useful are Antimicrobial Peptide Properties for Predicting Activity, Selectivity, and Potency? Curr Protein Pept Sci 2025; 26:22-40. [PMID: 39021188 DOI: 10.2174/0113892037317887240625054710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2024] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/20/2024]
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are recognized for their potential application as new generation antibiotics, however, up to date, they have not been widely commercialized as expected. Although current bioinformatics tools can predict antimicrobial activity based on only amino acid sequences with astounding accuracy, peptide selectivity and potency are not foreseeable. This, in turn, creates a bottleneck not only in the discovery and isolation of promising candidates but, most importantly, in the design and development of novel synthetic peptides. In this paper, we discuss the challenges faced when trying to predict peptide selectivity and potency, based on peptide sequence, structure and relevant biophysical properties such as length, net charge and hydrophobicity. Here, pore-forming alpha-helical antimicrobial peptides family isolated from anurans was used as the case study. Our findings revealed no congruent relationship between the predicted peptide properties and reported microbial assay data, such as minimum inhibitory concentrations against microorganisms and hemolysis. In many instances, the peptides with the best physicochemical properties performed poorly against microbial strains. In some cases, the predicted properties were so similar that differences in activity amongst peptides of the same family could not be projected. Our general conclusion is that antimicrobial peptides of interest must be carefully examined since there is no universal strategy for accurately predicting their behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandt Bertrand
- Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (ICF-UNAM), Avenida Universidad 2001, Chamilpa, 62210, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México
| | - Pablo Luis Hernandez-Adame
- Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (ICF-UNAM), Avenida Universidad 2001, Chamilpa, 62210, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México
| | - Carlos Munoz-Garay
- Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (ICF-UNAM), Avenida Universidad 2001, Chamilpa, 62210, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México
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13
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Mojgani N, Bagheri M, Ashique S, Islam A, Moharrami M, Modirrousta H, Hussain A. Honeybee defense mechanisms: Role of honeybee gut microbiota and antimicrobial peptides in maintaining colony health and preventing diseases. Microb Pathog 2025; 198:107161. [PMID: 39603566 DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2024.107161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2024] [Revised: 10/20/2024] [Accepted: 11/24/2024] [Indexed: 11/29/2024]
Abstract
Honeybees play a vital role in pollination and the maintenance of ecosystem biodiversity, making their health and well-being crucial for agriculture and environmental sustainability. Bee health is modulated by symbiotic microorganisms colonizing the gut in balanced proportions. Studies have demonstrated that these beneficial bacteria have the capacity to enhance the immune system of honey bees, having substantial impact on regulating their immunological responses and hence aiding in defending against pathogenic illnesses. Another important aspect of honeybee health is their innate immune system that is related to their ability to synthesize antimicrobial peptides (AMP). AMPs, the small, cationic peptides are the humoral effector molecules that are synthesized in the hemolymph of the insects after being exposed to microbial infectious agents. A number of honeybee's gut microbiota especially Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB), are known to regulate the production of several AMPs and hence are able to provide protection to these insects against a number of disease agents by modulating their innate immune response via induction of the AMPs genes. These AMPs mainly produced by adult workers are an important and integral part of an insect's immune response. Several AMPs namely apidaecins, abaecins, hymenoptaecins and defensins produced in the adult honeybee, hold the ability to control or prevent a number of diseases in these pollinator insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naheed Mojgani
- Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute- Agriculture Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran.
| | - Masoumeh Bagheri
- Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute- Agriculture Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran
| | - Sumel Ashique
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Bengal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Research, Durgapur, 713212, West Bengal, India; School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, 144411, India
| | - Anas Islam
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Integral University, Lucknow, 226026, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Mojtaba Moharrami
- Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute- Agriculture Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran
| | - Hossein Modirrousta
- Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute- Agriculture Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran
| | - Abrar Hussain
- H.E.J Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan
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Jiang J, Kaysar K, Pan Y, Xia L, Li J. A Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-Based Antimicrobial Peptide Delivery System with Enhanced Anticancer Activity and Low Systemic Toxicity. Pharmaceutics 2024; 16:1591. [PMID: 39771569 PMCID: PMC11678129 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics16121591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2024] [Revised: 12/06/2024] [Accepted: 12/10/2024] [Indexed: 01/11/2025] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The clinical efficacies of anticancer drugs are limited by non-selective toxic effects on healthy tissues and low bioavailability in tumor tissue. Therefore, the development of vehicles that can selectively deliver and release drugs at the tumor site is critical for further improvements in patient survival. METHODS We prepared a CEC nano-drug delivery system, CEC@ZIF-8, with a zeolite imidazole framework-8 (ZIF-8) as a carrier, which can achieve the response of folate receptor (FR). We characterized this system in terms of morphology, particle size, zeta potential, infrared (IR), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and transcriptome analysis, and examined the in vitro cytotoxicity and cellular uptake properties of CEC@ZIF-8 using cervical cancer cells. Lastly, we established a TC-1 tumor-bearing mouse model and evaluated its in vivo anti-cervical cancer activity. RESULTS The CEC@ZIF-8 nano-delivery system had favorable biocompatibility, heat stability, and pH responsiveness, with a CEC loading efficiency of 12%, a hydrated particle size of 174 ± 5.8 nm, a zeta potential of 20.57 mV, and slow and massive drug release in an acidic environment (pH 5.5), whereas release was 6% in a neutral environment (pH 7.4). At the same time, confocal imaging and cell viability assays demonstrated greater intracellular accumulation and more potent cytotoxicity against cancer cells compared to free CEC. The mechanism was analyzed by a series of transcriptome analyses, which revealed that CEC@ZIF-8 NPs differentially regulate the expression levels of 1057 genes in cancer cells, and indicated that the enriched pathways were mainly cell cycle and apoptosis-related pathways via the enrichment analysis of the differential genes. Flow cytometry showed that CEC@ZIF-8 NPs inhibited the growth of HeLa cells by arresting the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase. Flow cytometry also revealed that CEC@ZIF-8 NPs induced greater apoptosis rates than CEC, while unloaded ZIF-8 had little inherent pro-apoptotic activity. Furthermore, the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were also upregulated by CEC@ZIF-8 NPs while ROS inhibitors and caspase inhibitors reversed CEC@ZIF-8 NPs-induced apoptosis. Finally, CEC@ZIF-8 NPs also reduced the growth rate of xenograft tumors in mice without the systemic toxicity observed with cisplatin treatment. CONCLUSIONS The CEC@ZIF-8 nano-drug delivery system significantly enhanced the anti-cervical cancer effect of CEC both in vivo and in vitro, providing a more promising drug delivery system for clinical applications and tumor management. At the same time, this work demonstrates the clinical potential of CEC-loaded ZIF-8 nanoparticles for the selective destruction of tumor tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Lijie Xia
- Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China; (J.J.); (K.K.); (Y.P.)
| | - Jinyao Li
- Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China; (J.J.); (K.K.); (Y.P.)
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15
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Ma X, Wang Q, Ren K, Xu T, Zhang Z, Xu M, Rao Z, Zhang X. A Review of Antimicrobial Peptides: Structure, Mechanism of Action, and Molecular Optimization Strategies. FERMENTATION-BASEL 2024; 10:540. [DOI: 10.3390/fermentation10110540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2025]
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are bioactive macromolecules that exhibit antibacterial, antiviral, and immunomodulatory functions. They come from a wide range of sources and are found in all forms of life, from bacteria to plants, vertebrates, and invertebrates, and play an important role in controlling the spread of pathogens, promoting wound healing and treating tumors. Consequently, AMPs have emerged as promising alternatives to next-generation antibiotics. With advancements in systems biology and synthetic biology technologies, it has become possible to synthesize AMPs artificially. We can better understand their functional activities for further modification and development by investigating the mechanism of action underlying their antimicrobial properties. This review focuses on the structural aspects of AMPs while highlighting their significance for biological activity. Furthermore, it elucidates the membrane targeting mechanism and intracellular targets of these peptides while summarizing molecular modification approaches aimed at enhancing their antibacterial efficacy. Finally, this article outlines future challenges in the functional development of AMPs along with proposed strategies to overcome them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xu Ma
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
- Yixing Institute of Food and Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Yixing 214200, China
| | - Qiang Wang
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
- Yixing Institute of Food and Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Yixing 214200, China
| | - Kexin Ren
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
- Yixing Institute of Food and Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Yixing 214200, China
| | - Tongtong Xu
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
- Yixing Institute of Food and Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Yixing 214200, China
| | - Zigang Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
- Yixing Institute of Food and Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Yixing 214200, China
| | - Meijuan Xu
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
- Yixing Institute of Food and Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Yixing 214200, China
| | - Zhiming Rao
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
- Yixing Institute of Food and Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Yixing 214200, China
| | - Xian Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
- Yixing Institute of Food and Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Yixing 214200, China
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16
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Song J, Zhang S, Xing J, Zhang L, Wang J, Shan A. Optimizing therapeutic efficacy of antifungal peptides via strategic terminal amino acid modification. J Adv Res 2024:S2090-1232(24)00416-8. [PMID: 39322048 DOI: 10.1016/j.jare.2024.09.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2024] [Revised: 08/26/2024] [Accepted: 09/15/2024] [Indexed: 09/27/2024] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Antifungal peptides (AFPs) have the potential to treat antifungal-resistant infections; however, their structure-function relationship remains unknown, hindering their rapid development. Therefore, it is imperative to investigate and clarify the structure-function relationships of AFPs. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to investigate the impact of end-tagging single hydrophobic amino acids and capping the N-terminus with glycine (Gly) on the antifungal activity of peptide W4. METHODS The antifungal efficacy of the engineered peptides was initially assessed by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) /minimal fungicidal concentration (MFC), killing kinetics, and drug resistance induction, in addition to evaluating the biocompatibility and stability. Subsequently, the antifungal mechanism was investigated using fluorescence labeling, electron microscopy, reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection, and measurement of mitochondrial membrane potential and apoptosis. The impact of the engineered peptides on Candida albicans (C. albicans) biofilm and their potential application in the scratch keratomycosis model were investigated. RESULTS The antifungal activity of W4 was significantly enhanced by capping Gly at the N-terminus, resulting in a decrease in average activity from 11.86 μM to 6.25 μM (GW4) and an increase in TI values by 1.9-fold (TIGW4 = 40.99). Mechanistically, GW4 exerted its antifungal effect by disrupting the cellular membrane structure in C. albicans, forming pores and subsequent leakage of intracellular contents. Concurrently, it facilitated intracellular ROS accumulation while decreasing the mitochondrial membrane potential. Additionally, GW4 demonstrated an excellent ability to inhibit and eliminate biofilms of C. albicans. Notably, GW4 demonstrated significant therapeutic potential in a C. albicans-associated keratitis model. CONCLUSION Capping Gly at the N-terminus increased residue length while significantly enhancing the helical propensity of W4, thereby augmenting its antifungal activity. Our exploratory study demonstrated the potential strategies and avenues for optimizing the structure-function relationships of AFPs and developing highly effective antifungal drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Song
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, PR China
| | - Shanshan Zhang
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, PR China
| | - Junya Xing
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, PR China
| | - Licong Zhang
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, PR China
| | - Jiajun Wang
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, PR China.
| | - Anshan Shan
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, PR China.
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17
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Aiyasamy K, Ramasamy M, Hirad AH, Arulselvan P, Jaganathan R, Suriyaprakash J, Thangavelu I, Alarfaj AA. Facile construction of gefitinib-loaded zeolitic imidazolate framework nanocomposites for the treatment of different lung cancer cells. Biotechnol Appl Biochem 2024; 71:896-908. [PMID: 38594878 DOI: 10.1002/bab.2585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024]
Abstract
Gefitinib (GET) is a revolutionary targeted treatment inhibiting the epidermal growth factor receptor's tyrosine kinase action by competitively inhibiting the ATP binding site. In preclinical trials, several lung cancer cell lines and xenografts have demonstrated potential activity with GET. Response rates neared 25% in preclinical trials for non-small cell lung cancer. Here, we describe the one-pot synthesis of GET@ZIF-8 nanocomposites (NCs) in pure water, encapsulating zeolitic imidazolate framework 8 (ZIF-8). This method developed NCs with consistent morphology and a loading efficiency of 9%, resulting in a loading capacity of 20 wt%. Cell proliferation assay assessed the anticancer effect of GET@ZIF-8 NCs on A549 and H1299 cells. The different biochemical staining (Calcein-AM and PI and 4',6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole nuclear staining) assays assessed the cell death and morphological examination. Additionally, the mode of apoptosis was evaluated by mitochondrial membrane potential (∆ψm) and reactive oxygen species. Therefore, the study concludes that GET@ZIF-8 NCs are pledged to treat lung cancer cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kalaivani Aiyasamy
- Department of Biochemistry, Vivekanandha College of Arts and Sciences for Women (Autonomous), Tiruchengode, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Malathi Ramasamy
- Department of Biochemistry, Vivekanandha College of Arts and Sciences for Women (Autonomous), Tiruchengode, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Abdurahman Hajinur Hirad
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Palanisamy Arulselvan
- Department of Chemistry, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Saveetha University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Ravindran Jaganathan
- Preclinical Department, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Royal College of Medicine Perak (UniKL-RCMP), Perak, Malaysia
| | - Jagadeesh Suriyaprakash
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Nanophotonic Functional Materials and Devices, School of Information and Optoelectronic Science and Engineering, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | | | - Abdullah A Alarfaj
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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18
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Fong-Coronado PA, Ramirez V, Quintero-Hernández V, Balleza D. A Critical Review of Short Antimicrobial Peptides from Scorpion Venoms, Their Physicochemical Attributes, and Potential for the Development of New Drugs. J Membr Biol 2024; 257:165-205. [PMID: 38990274 PMCID: PMC11289363 DOI: 10.1007/s00232-024-00315-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 06/08/2024] [Indexed: 07/12/2024]
Abstract
Scorpion venoms have proven to be excellent sources of antimicrobial agents. However, although many of them have been functionally characterized, they remain underutilized as pharmacological agents, despite their evident therapeutic potential. In this review, we discuss the physicochemical properties of short scorpion venom antimicrobial peptides (ssAMPs). Being generally short (13-25 aa) and amidated, their proven antimicrobial activity is generally explained by parameters such as their net charge, the hydrophobic moment, or the degree of helicity. However, for a complete understanding of their biological activities, also considering the properties of the target membranes is of great relevance. Here, with an extensive analysis of the physicochemical, structural, and thermodynamic parameters associated with these biomolecules, we propose a theoretical framework for the rational design of new antimicrobial drugs. Through a comparison of these physicochemical properties with the bioactivity of ssAMPs in pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus or Acinetobacter baumannii, it is evident that in addition to the net charge, the hydrophobic moment, electrostatic energy, or intrinsic flexibility are determining parameters to understand their performance. Although the correlation between these parameters is very complex, the consensus of our analysis suggests that there is a delicate balance between them and that modifying one affects the rest. Understanding the contribution of lipid composition to their bioactivities is also underestimated, which suggests that for each peptide, there is a physiological context to consider for the rational design of new drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Alejandro Fong-Coronado
- Ecology and Survival of Microorganisms Group (ESMG), Laboratorio de Ecología Molecular Microbiana (LEMM), Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias Microbiológicas (CICM), Instituto de Ciencias (IC), Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Puebla, México
| | - Verónica Ramirez
- Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (FCQ-BUAP), Ciudad Universitaria, Puebla, México
| | | | - Daniel Balleza
- Laboratorio de Microbiología, Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo en Alimentos, Instituto Tecnológico de Veracruz, Tecnológico Nacional de México, Veracruz, México.
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19
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Li C, Sutherland D, Richter A, Coombe L, Yanai A, Warren RL, Kotkoff M, Hof F, Hoang LMN, Helbing CC, Birol I. De novo synthetic antimicrobial peptide design with a recurrent neural network. Protein Sci 2024; 33:e5088. [PMID: 38988311 PMCID: PMC11237553 DOI: 10.1002/pro.5088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2023] [Revised: 05/16/2024] [Accepted: 06/10/2024] [Indexed: 07/12/2024]
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance is recognized as an imminent and growing global health threat. New antimicrobial drugs are urgently needed due to the decreasing effectiveness of conventional small-molecule antibiotics. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), a class of host defense peptides, are emerging as promising candidates to address this need. The potential sequence space of amino acids is combinatorially vast, making it possible to extend the current arsenal of antimicrobial agents with a practically infinite number of new peptide-based candidates. However, mining naturally occurring AMPs, whether directly by wet lab screening methods or aided by bioinformatics prediction tools, has its theoretical limit regarding the number of samples or genomic/transcriptomic resources researchers have access to. Further, manually designing novel synthetic AMPs requires prior field knowledge, restricting its throughput. In silico sequence generation methods are gaining interest as a high-throughput solution to the problem. Here, we introduce AMPd-Up, a recurrent neural network based tool for de novo AMP design, and demonstrate its utility over existing methods. Validation of candidates designed by AMPd-Up through antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed that 40 of the 58 generated sequences possessed antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and/or Staphylococcus aureus. These results illustrate that AMPd-Up can be used to design novel synthetic AMPs with potent activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenkai Li
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences CentreBC Cancer AgencyVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
- Bioinformatics Graduate ProgramUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - Darcy Sutherland
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences CentreBC Cancer AgencyVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
- Public Health LaboratoryBritish Columbia Centre for Disease ControlVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory MedicineUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - Amelia Richter
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences CentreBC Cancer AgencyVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
- Public Health LaboratoryBritish Columbia Centre for Disease ControlVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - Lauren Coombe
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences CentreBC Cancer AgencyVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - Anat Yanai
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences CentreBC Cancer AgencyVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
- Public Health LaboratoryBritish Columbia Centre for Disease ControlVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - René L. Warren
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences CentreBC Cancer AgencyVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - Monica Kotkoff
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences CentreBC Cancer AgencyVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - Fraser Hof
- Department of Chemistry and the Centre for Advanced Materials and Related TechnologyUniversity of VictoriaVictoriaBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - Linda M. N. Hoang
- Public Health LaboratoryBritish Columbia Centre for Disease ControlVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory MedicineUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - Caren C. Helbing
- Department of Biochemistry and MicrobiologyUniversity of VictoriaVictoriaBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - Inanc Birol
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences CentreBC Cancer AgencyVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
- Public Health LaboratoryBritish Columbia Centre for Disease ControlVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory MedicineUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
- Department of Medical GeneticsUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
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20
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van der Walt M, Möller DS, van Wyk RJ, Ferguson PM, Hind CK, Clifford M, Do Carmo Silva P, Sutton JM, Mason AJ, Bester MJ, Gaspar ARM. QSAR Reveals Decreased Lipophilicity of Polar Residues Determines the Selectivity of Antimicrobial Peptide Activity. ACS OMEGA 2024; 9:26030-26049. [PMID: 38911757 PMCID: PMC11191095 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.4c01277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2024] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/20/2024] [Indexed: 06/25/2024]
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance has increased rapidly, causing daunting morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have emerged as promising alternatives to traditional antibiotics due to their broad range of targets and low tendency to elicit resistance. However, potent antimicrobial activity is often accompanied by excessive cytotoxicity toward host cells, leading to a halt in AMP therapeutic development. Here, we present multivariate analyses that correlate 28 peptide properties to the activity and toxicity of 46 diverse African-derived AMPs and identify the negative lipophilicity of polar residues as an essential physiochemical property for selective antimicrobial activity. Twenty-seven active AMPs are identified, of which the majority are of scorpion or frog origin. Of these, thirteen are novel with no previously reported activities. Principal component analysis and quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) reveal that overall hydrophobicity, lipophilicity, and residue side chain surface area affect the antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of an AMP. This has been well documented previously, but the present QSAR analysis additionally reveals that a decrease in the lipophilicity, contributed by those amino acids classified as polar, confers selectivity for a peptide to pathogen over mammalian cells. Furthermore, an increase in overall peptide charge aids selectivity toward Gram-negative bacteria and fungi, while selectivity toward Gram-positive bacteria is obtained through an increased number of small lipophilic residues. Finally, a conservative increase in peptide size in terms of sequence length and molecular weight also contributes to improved activity without affecting toxicity. Our findings suggest a novel approach for the rational design or modification of existing AMPs to increase pathogen selectivity and enhance therapeutic potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mandelie van der Walt
- Department
of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Natural and
Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
| | - Dalton S. Möller
- Department
of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Natural and
Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
| | - Rosalind J. van Wyk
- Department
of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Natural and
Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
| | - Philip M. Ferguson
- Institute
of Pharmaceutical Science, School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Science, King’s College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford
Street, London SE1 9NH, United Kingdom
| | - Charlotte K. Hind
- Antimicrobial
Discovery Development and Diagnostics, Vaccine Evaluation and Development
Centre, UK Health Security Agency, Salisbury SP4 0JG, United Kingdom
| | - Melanie Clifford
- Antimicrobial
Discovery Development and Diagnostics, Vaccine Evaluation and Development
Centre, UK Health Security Agency, Salisbury SP4 0JG, United Kingdom
| | - Phoebe Do Carmo Silva
- Antimicrobial
Discovery Development and Diagnostics, Vaccine Evaluation and Development
Centre, UK Health Security Agency, Salisbury SP4 0JG, United Kingdom
| | - J. Mark Sutton
- Antimicrobial
Discovery Development and Diagnostics, Vaccine Evaluation and Development
Centre, UK Health Security Agency, Salisbury SP4 0JG, United Kingdom
| | - A. James Mason
- Institute
of Pharmaceutical Science, School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Science, King’s College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford
Street, London SE1 9NH, United Kingdom
| | - Megan J. Bester
- Department
of Anatomy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
| | - Anabella R. M. Gaspar
- Department
of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Natural and
Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
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21
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Ouyang M, Wu F, Hu C. Efficacy of Short Novel Antimicrobial Peptides in a Mouse Model of Staphylococcus pseudintermedius Skin Infection. Antibiotics (Basel) 2024; 13:508. [PMID: 38927175 PMCID: PMC11200854 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics13060508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2024] [Revised: 05/20/2024] [Accepted: 05/28/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
As the clinical application of antibiotics for bacterial skin infections in companion animals becomes increasingly prevalent, the issue of bacterial resistance has become more pronounced. Antimicrobial peptides, as a novel alternative to traditional antibiotics, have garnered widespread attention. In our study, synthetic peptides ADD-A and CBD3-ABU were tested against Staphylococcus pseudintermedius skin infections in KM mice. ADD-A was applied topically and through intraperitoneal injection, compared with control groups and treatments including CBD3-ABU, ampicillin sodium, and saline. Wound contraction, bacterial counts and histology were assessed on days 3 and 11 post-infection. ADD-A and ampicillin treatments significantly outperformed saline in wound healing (p < 0.0001 and p < 0.001, respectively). ADD-A also showed a markedly lower bacterial count than ampicillin (p < 0.0001). Histologically, ADD-A-applied wounds had better epidermal continuity and a thicker epidermis than normal, with restored follicles and sebaceous glands. ADD-A's effectiveness suggests it as a potential alternative to antibiotics for treating skin infections in animals.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Changmin Hu
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (M.O.); (F.W.)
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22
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Yuan L, Wang K, Fang Y, Xu X, Chen Y, Zhao D, Lu K. Interaction of Cecropin A (1-7) Analogs with DNA Analyzed by Multi-spectroscopic Methods. Protein J 2024; 43:274-282. [PMID: 38265732 DOI: 10.1007/s10930-023-10177-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/25/2024]
Abstract
Cecropin A (1-7) is a cationic antimicrobial peptide which contain lots of basic amino acids. To understand the effect of basic amino acids on cecropin A (1-7), analogues CA2, CA3 and CA4 which have more arginine or lysine at the N-terminal or C-terminal were designed and synthesized. The interaction of cecropin A (1-7) and its analogs with DNA was studied using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy and circular dichroism spectroscopy. Multispectral analysis showed that basic amino acids improved the interaction between the analogues and DNA. The interaction between CA4 and DNA is most pronounced. Fluorescence spectrum indicated that Ksv value of CA4 is 1.19 × 105 L mol-1 compared to original peptide cecropin A (1-7) of 3.73 × 104 L mol-1. The results of antimicrobial experiments with cecropin A (1-7) and its analogues showed that basic amino acids enhanced the antimicrobial effect of the analogues. The antimicrobial activity of CA4 against E. coli was eightfold higher than that of cecropin A (1-7). The importance of basic amino acid in peptides is revealed and provides useful information for subsequent studies of antimicrobial peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Libo Yuan
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, 450001, People's Republic of China.
| | - Ke Wang
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, 450001, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuan Fang
- Pharmacy Department, Zhengzhou People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, 450003, People's Republic of China.
| | - Xiujuan Xu
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, 450001, People's Republic of China
| | - Yingcun Chen
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, 450001, People's Republic of China
| | - Dongxin Zhao
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, 450001, People's Republic of China
| | - Kui Lu
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, 450001, People's Republic of China.
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23
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Zhou L, Meng G, Zhu L, Ma L, Chen K. Insect Antimicrobial Peptides as Guardians of Immunity and Beyond: A Review. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:3835. [PMID: 38612644 PMCID: PMC11011964 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25073835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2024] [Revised: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), as immune effectors synthesized by a variety of organisms, not only constitute a robust defense mechanism against a broad spectrum of pathogens in the host but also show promising applications as effective antimicrobial agents. Notably, insects are significant reservoirs of natural AMPs. However, the complex array of variations in types, quantities, antimicrobial activities, and production pathways of AMPs, as well as evolution of AMPs across insect species, presents a significant challenge for immunity system understanding and AMP applications. This review covers insect AMP discoveries, classification, common properties, and mechanisms of action. Additionally, the types, quantities, and activities of immune-related AMPs in each model insect are also summarized. We conducted the first comprehensive investigation into the diversity, distribution, and evolution of 20 types of AMPs in model insects, employing phylogenetic analysis to describe their evolutionary relationships and shed light on conserved and distinctive AMP families. Furthermore, we summarize the regulatory pathways of AMP production through classical signaling pathways and additional pathways associated with Nitric Oxide, insulin-like signaling, and hormones. This review advances our understanding of AMPs as guardians in insect immunity systems and unlocks a gateway to insect AMP resources, facilitating the use of AMPs to address food safety concerns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lizhen Zhou
- Department of Plant Protection, College of Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China;
- Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
| | - Guanliang Meng
- Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, 53113 Bonn, Germany;
| | - Ling Zhu
- School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China;
| | - Li Ma
- College of Plant Protection, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu 030810, China
| | - Kangkang Chen
- Department of Plant Protection, College of Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China;
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24
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Qu H, Yao Q, Chen T, Wu H, Liu Y, Wang C, Dong A. Current status of development and biomedical applications of peptide-based antimicrobial hydrogels. Adv Colloid Interface Sci 2024; 325:103099. [PMID: 38330883 DOI: 10.1016/j.cis.2024.103099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2023] [Revised: 01/24/2024] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
Microbial contamination poses a serious threat to human life and health. Through the intersection of material science and modern medicine, advanced bionic hydrogels have shown great potential for biomedical applications due to their unique bioactivity and ability to mimic the extracellular matrix environment. In particular, as a promising antimicrobial material, the synthesis and practical biomedical applications of peptide-based antimicrobial hydrogels have drawn increasing research interest. The synergistic effect of peptides and hydrogels facilitate the controlled release of antimicrobial agents and mitigation of their biotoxicity while achieving antimicrobial effects and protecting the active agents from degradation. This review reports on the progress and trends of researches in the last five years and provides a brief outlook, aiming to provide theoretical background on peptide-based antimicrobial hydrogels and make suggestions for future related work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huihui Qu
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, People's Republic of China; College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, People's Republic of China; Engineering Research Center of Dairy Quality and Safety Control Technology, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, People's Republic of China
| | - Quanfu Yao
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, People's Republic of China; College of Chemistry and Environment, Hohhot Minzu College, Hohhot 010051, People's Republic of China
| | - Ting Chen
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, People's Republic of China; Engineering Research Center of Dairy Quality and Safety Control Technology, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, People's Republic of China
| | - Haixia Wu
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, People's Republic of China; Engineering Research Center of Dairy Quality and Safety Control Technology, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, People's Republic of China.
| | - Ying Liu
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, People's Republic of China.
| | - Cong Wang
- Center of Experimental Instrument, School of Food Science and Technology, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, People's Republic of China.
| | - Alideertu Dong
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, People's Republic of China; Engineering Research Center of Dairy Quality and Safety Control Technology, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, People's Republic of China.
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25
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Antony A, Purayil AK, Olakkaran S, Dhannura S, Shekh S, Gowd KH, Gurushankara HP. Antimicrobial and antitumor properties of anuran peptide temporin-SHf induce apoptosis in A549 lung cancer cells. Amino Acids 2024; 56:12. [PMID: 38319435 PMCID: PMC10847208 DOI: 10.1007/s00726-023-03373-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
Temporin-SHf is a linear, ultra-short, hydrophobic, α-helix, and phe-rich cationic antimicrobial peptide. The antitumor activities and mechanism of temporin-SHf-induced cancer cell death are unknown. The temporin-SHf was synthesized by solid-phase Fmoc chemistry and antimicrobial and antitumor activities were investigated. Temporin-SHf was microbiocidal, non-hemolytic, and cytotoxic to human cancer cells but not to non-tumorigenic cells. It affected the cancer cells' lysosomal integrity and caused cell membrane damage. The temporin-SHf inhibited A549 cancer cell proliferation and migration. It is anti-angiogenic and causes cancer cell death through apoptosis. The molecular mechanism of action of temporin-SHf confirmed that it kills cancer cells by triggering caspase-dependent apoptosis through an intrinsic mitochondrial pathway. Owing to its short length and broad spectrum of antitumor activity, temporin-SHf is a promising candidate for developing a new class of anticancer drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anet Antony
- Department of Zoology, School of Biological Sciences, Central University of Kerala, Tejaswini Hills, Periya, Kasaragod, 671 320, India
- Department of Zoology, University of Calicut, Malappuram, Kerala, 673 635, India
| | - Anupama Kizhakke Purayil
- Department of Zoology, School of Biological Sciences, Central University of Kerala, Tejaswini Hills, Periya, Kasaragod, 671 320, India
- Department of Molecular Biology, Kannur University, Dr. Janakiammal Campus, Thalasserry, Palayad, Kerala, 670 661, India
| | - Shilpa Olakkaran
- Department of Zoology, School of Biological Sciences, Central University of Kerala, Tejaswini Hills, Periya, Kasaragod, 671 320, India
- Department of Zoology, University of Calicut, Malappuram, Kerala, 673 635, India
| | - Shweta Dhannura
- Department of Chemistry, School of Chemical Sciences, Central University of Karnataka, Kalaburagi, Karnataka, 585 367, India
| | - Shamasoddin Shekh
- Department of Chemistry, School of Chemical Sciences, Central University of Karnataka, Kalaburagi, Karnataka, 585 367, India
| | - Konkallu Hanumae Gowd
- Department of Chemistry, School of Chemical Sciences, Central University of Karnataka, Kalaburagi, Karnataka, 585 367, India
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26
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Goki NH, Tehranizadeh ZA, Saberi MR, Khameneh B, Bazzaz BSF. Structure, Function, and Physicochemical Properties of Pore-forming Antimicrobial Peptides. Curr Pharm Biotechnol 2024; 25:1041-1057. [PMID: 37921126 DOI: 10.2174/0113892010194428231017051836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2023] [Revised: 08/28/2023] [Accepted: 09/08/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), a class of antimicrobial agents, possess considerable potential to treat various microbial ailments. The broad range of activity and rare complete bacterial resistance to AMPs make them ideal candidates for commercial development. These peptides with widely varying compositions and sources share recurrent structural and functional features in mechanisms of action. Studying the mechanisms of AMP activity against bacteria may lead to the development of new antimicrobial agents that are more potent. Generally, AMPs are effective against bacteria by forming pores or disrupting membrane barriers. The important structural aspects of cytoplasmic membranes of pathogens and host cells will also be outlined to understand the selective antimicrobial actions. The antimicrobial activities of AMPs are related to multiple physicochemical properties, such as length, sequence, helicity, charge, hydrophobicity, amphipathicity, polar angle, and also self-association. These parameters are interrelated and need to be considered in combination. So, gathering the most relevant available information will help to design and choose the most effective AMPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Narjes Hosseini Goki
- Department of Pharmaceutical Control, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Zeinab Amiri Tehranizadeh
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Mohammad Reza Saberi
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Bahman Khameneh
- Department of Pharmaceutical Control, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Bibi Sedigheh Fazly Bazzaz
- Department of Pharmaceutical Control, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
- Biotechnology Research Center, Pharmaceutical Technology Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
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27
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Wang Z, Teng D, Mao R, Hao Y, Yang N, Wang X, Wang J. A cleavable chimeric peptide with targeting and killing domains enhances LPS neutralization and antibacterial properties against multi-drug resistant E. coli. Commun Biol 2023; 6:1170. [PMID: 37973936 PMCID: PMC10654507 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05528-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Pathogenic Escherichia coli is one of the most common causes of diarrhea diseases and its characteristic component of the outer membrane-lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a major inducer of sepsis. Few drugs have been proven to kill bacteria and simultaneously neutralize LPS toxicity. Here, the chimeric peptides-R7, A7 and G7 were generated by connecting LBP14 (LPS-targeting domain) with L7 (killing domain) via different linkers to improve antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activities. Compared to parent LBP14-RKRR and L7, the antibacterial activity of R7 with a cleavable "RKRR" linker and the "LBP14-RKRR + L7" cocktail against Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium and Staphylococcus aureus was increased by 2 ~ 4-fold. Both A7 and G7 with non-cleavable linkers almost lost antibacterial activity. The ability of R7 to neutralize LPS was markedly higher than that of LBP14-RKRR and L7. In vivo, R7 could be cleaved by furin in a time-dependent manner, and release L7 and LBP14-RKRR in serum. In vivo, R7 can enhance mouse survival more effectively than L7 and alleviate lung injuries by selective inhibition of the NF-κB signaling pathways and promoting higher IAP activity. It suggests that R7 may be promising dual-function candidates as antibacterial and anti-endotoxin agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenlong Wang
- Team of AMP & Alternatives to Antibiotics, Gene Engineering Laboratory, Institute of Feed Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Feed Biotechnology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, 100081, People's Republic of China
| | - Da Teng
- Team of AMP & Alternatives to Antibiotics, Gene Engineering Laboratory, Institute of Feed Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Feed Biotechnology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, 100081, People's Republic of China
| | - Ruoyu Mao
- Team of AMP & Alternatives to Antibiotics, Gene Engineering Laboratory, Institute of Feed Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Feed Biotechnology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, 100081, People's Republic of China
| | - Ya Hao
- Team of AMP & Alternatives to Antibiotics, Gene Engineering Laboratory, Institute of Feed Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Feed Biotechnology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, 100081, People's Republic of China
| | - Na Yang
- Team of AMP & Alternatives to Antibiotics, Gene Engineering Laboratory, Institute of Feed Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Feed Biotechnology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, 100081, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiumin Wang
- Team of AMP & Alternatives to Antibiotics, Gene Engineering Laboratory, Institute of Feed Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, People's Republic of China.
- Key Laboratory of Feed Biotechnology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, 100081, People's Republic of China.
| | - Jianhua Wang
- Team of AMP & Alternatives to Antibiotics, Gene Engineering Laboratory, Institute of Feed Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, People's Republic of China.
- Key Laboratory of Feed Biotechnology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, 100081, People's Republic of China.
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28
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Meier S, Ridgway ZM, Picciano AL, Caputo GA. Impacts of Hydrophobic Mismatch on Antimicrobial Peptide Efficacy and Bilayer Permeabilization. Antibiotics (Basel) 2023; 12:1624. [PMID: 37998826 PMCID: PMC10669323 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics12111624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Revised: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/08/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance continues to be a major threat to world health, with the continued emergence of resistant bacterial strains. Antimicrobial peptides have emerged as an attractive option for the development of novel antimicrobial compounds in part due to their ubiquity in nature and the general lack of resistance development to this class of molecules. In this work, we analyzed the antimicrobial peptide C18G and several truncated forms for efficacy and the underlying mechanistic effects of the sequence truncation. The peptides were screened for antimicrobial efficacy against several standard laboratory strains, and further analyzed using fluorescence spectroscopy to evaluate binding to model lipid membranes and bilayer disruption. The results show a clear correlation between the length of the peptide and the antimicrobial efficacy. Furthermore, there is a correlation between peptide length and the hydrophobic thickness of the bilayer, indicating that hydrophobic mismatch is likely a contributing factor to the loss of efficacy in shorter peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven Meier
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA (A.L.P.)
| | - Zachary M. Ridgway
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA (A.L.P.)
| | - Angela L. Picciano
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA (A.L.P.)
| | - Gregory A. Caputo
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA (A.L.P.)
- Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA
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29
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Bui Thi Phuong H, Le Uyen C, Doan Ngan H, Luong Xuan H. Impact of chemical modifications on the antimicrobial and hemolytic activity of helical amphipathic peptide Lasioglossin LL-III. Amino Acids 2023; 55:1531-1544. [PMID: 37737904 DOI: 10.1007/s00726-023-03326-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/23/2023]
Abstract
Insect venom is abundant in potential antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which can serve as novel alternatives to conventional antibiotics. Among them, Lasioglossin III LL-III) is a promising candidate with a broad spectrum against many fungi strains and both types of bacteria, whereas almost non-toxic to red blood cells. Many chemical approaches have been recently applied to improve its pharmacological properties and provide useful information regarding structure-activity relationships. Hence, this review focused on highlighting the lesson learned from each modification and supporting the future design of potent, selective, and metabolically stable AMPs.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Chi Le Uyen
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Phenikaa University, Hanoi, 12116, Vietnam
| | - Hoa Doan Ngan
- Faculty of Medical Technology, Phenikaa University, Hanoi, 12116, Vietnam
| | - Huy Luong Xuan
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Phenikaa University, Hanoi, 12116, Vietnam.
- Phenikaa Institute for Advanced Study (PIAS), Phenikaa University, Hanoi, 12116, Vietnam.
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30
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Wu P, Yang J, Chen C, Li R, Chen S, Weng Y, Lin Y, Chen Z, Yu F, Lü X, Ni L, Han J. Rational design of Abhisin-like peptides enables generation of potent antimicrobial activity against pathogens. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2023; 107:6621-6640. [PMID: 37672069 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-023-12748-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Revised: 07/01/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023]
Abstract
Infections caused by pathogens can be a significant challenge in wound healing, particularly when antimicrobial resistance is a factor. This can pose a serious threat to human health and well-being. In this scenario, it is imperative to explore novel antimicrobial agents to fight against multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogenic bacteria. This study employed rational design strategies, including truncation, amino acid replacement, and heterozygosity, to obtain seven α-helical, cationic, and engineered peptides based on the original template of Abhisin. Among the analogs of Abhisin, AB7 displayed broad-spectrum and potent antimicrobial activity, superior targeting of membranes and DNA, and the ability to disrupt biofilms and anti-endotoxins in vitro. Additionally, we evaluated the anti-infection ability of AB7 using a murine skin wound model infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and found that AB7 displayed negligible toxicity both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, AB7 exhibited desirable therapeutic efficacy by reducing bacterial burden and pro-inflammatory mediators, modulating cytokines, promoting wound healing, and enhancing angiogenesis. These results highlight the potential of AB7 as a promising candidate for a new antibiotic. KEY POINTS: • A α-helical, cationic, and engineered peptide AB7 was obtained based on Abhisin. • AB7 exhibited potent antimicrobial activity and multiple bactericidal actions. • AB7 effectively treated infected skin wounds in mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peifen Wu
- Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Biological Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350108, China
| | - Jie Yang
- Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Biological Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350108, China
| | - Chi Chen
- College of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Fujian Vocational College of Agriculture, Fuzhou, 350303, China
| | - Ruili Li
- College of Food Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Food Processing and Quality Control, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Shunxian Chen
- Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Biological Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350108, China
| | - Yanlin Weng
- Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Biological Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350108, China
| | - Yayi Lin
- Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Biological Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350108, China
| | - Zhiying Chen
- Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Biological Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350108, China
| | - Fengfan Yu
- Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Biological Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350108, China
| | - Xucong Lü
- Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Biological Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350108, China
| | - Li Ni
- Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Biological Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350108, China
| | - Jinzhi Han
- Institute of Food Science and Technology, College of Biological Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350108, China.
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31
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Rustagi V, Gupta SRR, Bajaj M, Singh A, Singh IK. PepAnalyzer: predicting peptide properties using its sequence. Amino Acids 2023; 55:1371-1379. [PMID: 37668712 DOI: 10.1007/s00726-023-03317-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023]
Abstract
Peptides are short linear molecules consisting of amino acids that play an essential role in most biological processes. They can treat diseases by working as a vaccine or antimicrobial agent and serves as a cancer molecule to deliver the drug to the target site for the treatment of cancer. They have the potential to solve the drawbacks of current medications and can be industrially produced in large quantities at low cost. However, poor chemical and physical stability, short circulating plasma half-life, and solubility are some issues that need solutions before they can be used as therapeutics. PepAnalyzer tool is a user-friendly tool that predicts 15 different properties such as binding potential, half-life, transmembrane patterns, test tube stability, charge, isoelectric point, molecular weights, and molar extinction coefficients only using the sequence. The tool is designed using BioPython utility and has even results with standard tools, such as Expasy, EBI, Genecorner, and Geneinfinity. The tool assists students, researchers, and the pharmaceutical sector. The PepAnalyzer tool's online platform is accessible at the link: http://www.iksmbrlabdu.in/peptool .
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanshika Rustagi
- Molecular Biology Research Lab., Department of Zoology, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi, Kalkaji, New Delhi, 110019, India
| | - Shradheya R R Gupta
- Molecular Biology Research Lab., Department of Zoology, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi, Kalkaji, New Delhi, 110019, India
| | - Monika Bajaj
- Department of Computer Science, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi, Kalkaji, New Delhi, 110019, India
| | - Archana Singh
- Department of Botany, Hansraj College, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India.
| | - Indrakant Kumar Singh
- Molecular Biology Research Lab., Department of Zoology, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi, Kalkaji, New Delhi, 110019, India.
- DBC i4 Centre, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi, Kalkaji, New Delhi, 110019, India.
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Division of Medical Oncology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033-9173, USA.
- Delhi School of Public Health, Institute of Eminence, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India.
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32
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Ioannou P, Baliou S, Kofteridis DP. Antimicrobial Peptides in Infectious Diseases and Beyond-A Narrative Review. Life (Basel) 2023; 13:1651. [PMID: 37629508 PMCID: PMC10455936 DOI: 10.3390/life13081651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Revised: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite recent medical research and clinical practice developments, the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) significantly limits therapeutics for infectious diseases. Thus, novel treatments for infectious diseases, especially in this era of increasing AMR, are urgently needed. There is ongoing research on non-classical therapies for infectious diseases utilizing alternative antimicrobial mechanisms to fight pathogens, such as bacteriophages or antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). AMPs are evolutionarily conserved molecules naturally produced by several organisms, such as plants, insects, marine organisms, and mammals, aiming to protect the host by fighting pathogenic microorganisms. There is ongoing research regarding developing AMPs for clinical use in infectious diseases. Moreover, AMPs have several other non-medical applications in the food industry, such as preservatives, animal husbandry, plant protection, and aquaculture. This review focuses on AMPs, their origins, biology, structure, mechanisms of action, non-medical applications, and clinical applications in infectious diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petros Ioannou
- School of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece
- Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Heraklion, 71110 Heraklion, Greece
| | - Stella Baliou
- Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Heraklion, 71110 Heraklion, Greece
| | - Diamantis P. Kofteridis
- School of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece
- Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Heraklion, 71110 Heraklion, Greece
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33
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Lyu Z, Yang P, Lei J, Zhao J. Biological Function of Antimicrobial Peptides on Suppressing Pathogens and Improving Host Immunity. Antibiotics (Basel) 2023; 12:1037. [PMID: 37370356 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics12061037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Revised: 06/04/2023] [Accepted: 06/07/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence of drug-resistant genes and concerns about food safety caused by the overuse of antibiotics are becoming increasingly prominent. There is an urgent need for effective alternatives to antibiotics in the fields of livestock production and human medicine. Antimicrobial peptides can effectively replace antibiotics to kill pathogens and enhance the immune functions of the host, and pathogens cannot easily produce genes that are resistant to them. The ability of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) to kill pathogens is associated with their structure and physicochemical properties, such as their conformation, electrical charges, hydrophilicity, and hydrophobicity. AMPs regulate the activity of immunological cells and stimulate the secretion of inflammatory cytokines via the activation of the NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways. However, there are still some limitations to the application of AMPs in the fields of livestock production and human medicine, including a restricted source base, high costs of purification and expression, and the instability of the intestines of animals and humans. This review summarizes the information on AMPs as effective antibiotic substitutes to improve the immunological functions of the host through suppressing pathogens and regulating inflammatory responses. Potential challenges for the commercial application of AMPs in animal husbandry and human medicine are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiqian Lyu
- Guangdong Haid Group Co., Ltd., Guangzhou 511400, China
- State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Pan Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Jian Lei
- Guangdong Haid Group Co., Ltd., Guangzhou 511400, China
- Qingyuan Haibei BIO-TECH Co., Ltd., Qingyuan 511853, China
| | - Jinbiao Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
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34
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Stockwald ER, Steger LME, Vollmer S, Gottselig C, Grage SL, Bürck J, Afonin S, Fröbel J, Blümmel AS, Setzler J, Wenzel W, Walther TH, Ulrich AS. Length matters: Functional flip of the short TatA transmembrane helix. Biophys J 2023; 122:2125-2146. [PMID: 36523158 PMCID: PMC10257086 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2022.12.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Revised: 12/01/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The twin arginine translocase (Tat) exports folded proteins across bacterial membranes. The putative pore-forming or membrane-weakening component (TatAd in B. subtilis) is anchored to the lipid bilayer via an unusually short transmembrane α-helix (TMH), with less than 16 residues. Its tilt angle in different membranes was analyzed under hydrophobic mismatch conditions, using synchrotron radiation circular dichroism and solid-state NMR. Positive mismatch (introduced either by reconstitution in short-chain lipids or by extending the hydrophobic TMH length) increased the helix tilt of the TMH as expected. Negative mismatch (introduced either by reconstitution in long-chain lipids or by shortening the TMH), on the other hand, led to protein aggregation. These data suggest that the TMH of TatA is just about long enough for stable membrane insertion. At the same time, its short length is a crucial factor for successful translocation, as demonstrated here in native membrane vesicles using an in vitro translocation assay. Furthermore, when reconstituted in model membranes with negative spontaneous curvature, the TMH was found to be aligned parallel to the membrane surface. This intrinsic ability of TatA to flip out of the membrane core thus seems to play a key role in its membrane-destabilizing effect during Tat-dependent translocation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva R Stockwald
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Organic Chemistry, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Lena M E Steger
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Biological Interfaces (IBG-2), Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Stefanie Vollmer
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Organic Chemistry, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Christina Gottselig
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Organic Chemistry, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Stephan L Grage
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Biological Interfaces (IBG-2), Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Jochen Bürck
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Biological Interfaces (IBG-2), Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Sergii Afonin
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Biological Interfaces (IBG-2), Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Julia Fröbel
- University of Freiburg, Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Anne-Sophie Blümmel
- University of Freiburg, Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Julia Setzler
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Wenzel
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Torsten H Walther
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Biological Interfaces (IBG-2), Karlsruhe, Germany.
| | - Anne S Ulrich
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Organic Chemistry, Karlsruhe, Germany; Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Biological Interfaces (IBG-2), Karlsruhe, Germany.
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35
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Makowska M, Kosikowska-Adamus P, Zdrowowicz M, Wyrzykowski D, Prahl A, Sikorska E. Lipidation of Naturally Occurring α-Helical Antimicrobial Peptides as a Promising Strategy for Drug Design. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24043951. [PMID: 36835362 PMCID: PMC9959048 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24043951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2023] Open
Abstract
In this paper, we describe the chemical synthesis, preliminary evaluation of antimicrobial properties and mechanisms of action of a novel group of lipidated derivatives of three naturally occurring α-helical antimicrobial peptides, LL-I (VNWKKVLGKIIKVAK-NH2), LK6 (IKKILSKILLKKL-NH2), ATRA-1 (KRFKKFFKKLK-NH2). The obtained results showed that biological properties of the final compounds were defined both by the length of the fatty acid and by the structural and physico-chemical properties of the initial peptide. We consider C8-C12 length of the hydrocarbon chain as the optimal for antimicrobial activity improvement. However, the most active analogues exerted relatively high cytotoxicity toward keratinocytes, with the exception of the ATRA-1 derivatives, which had a higher selectivity for microbial cells. The ATRA-1 derivatives had relatively low cytotoxicity against healthy human keratinocytes but high cytotoxicity against human breast cancer cells. Taking into account that ATRA-1 analogues carry the highest positive net charge, it can be assumed that this feature contributes to cell selectivity. As expected, the studied lipopeptides showed a strong tendency to self-assembly into fibrils and/or elongated and spherical micelles, with the least cytotoxic ATRA-1 derivatives forming apparently smaller assemblies. The results of the study also confirmed that the bacterial cell membrane is the target for the studied compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Makowska
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
- Correspondence: (M.M.); (E.S.)
| | - Paulina Kosikowska-Adamus
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
| | - Magdalena Zdrowowicz
- Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
| | - Dariusz Wyrzykowski
- Department of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
| | - Adam Prahl
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
| | - Emilia Sikorska
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
- Correspondence: (M.M.); (E.S.)
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36
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Tan H, Wang J, Song Y, Liu S, Lu Z, Luo H, Tang X. Antibacterial Potential Analysis of Novel α-Helix Peptides in the Chinese Wolf Spider Lycosa sinensis. Pharmaceutics 2022; 14:pharmaceutics14112540. [PMID: 36432731 PMCID: PMC9698133 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14112540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2022] [Revised: 11/12/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The spider Lycosa sinensis represents a burrowing wolf spider (family Lycosidae) widely distributed in the cotton region of northern China, whose venom is rich in various bioactive peptides. In previous study, we used a combination strategy of peptidomic and transcriptomic analyses to systematically screen and identify potential antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in Lycosa sinensis venom that matched the α-helix structures. In this work, the three peptides (LS-AMP-E1, LS-AMP-F1, and LS-AMP-G1) were subjected to sequence analysis of the physicochemical properties and helical wheel projection, and then six common clinical pathogenic bacteria (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species) with multiple drug-resistance were isolated and cultured for the evaluation and analysis of antimicrobial activity of these peptides. The results showed that two peptides (LS-AMP-E1 and LS-AMP-F1) had different inhibitory activity against six clinical drug-resistant bacteria; they can effectively inhibit the formation of biofilm and have no obvious hemolytic effect. Moreover, both LS-AMP-E1 and LS-AMP-F1 exhibited varying degrees of synergistic therapeutic effects with traditional antibiotics (azithromycin, erythromycin, and doxycycline), significantly reducing the working concentration of antibiotics and AMPs. In terms of antimicrobial mechanisms, LS-AMP-E1 and LS-AMP-F1 destroyed the integrity of bacterial cell membranes in a short period of time and completely inhibited bacterial growth within 10 min of action. Meanwhile, high concentrations of Mg2+ effectively reduced the antibacterial activity of LS-AMP-E1 and LS-AMP-F1. Together, it suggested that the two peptides interact directly on bacterial cell membranes. Taken together, bioinformatic and functional analyses in the present work sheds light on the structure-function relationships of LS-AMPs, and facilitates the discovery and clinical application of novel AMPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huaxin Tan
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Key Laboratory of Ecological Environment and Critical Human Diseases Prevention of Hunan Province Department of Education, School of Basic Medicine, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
| | - Junyao Wang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Key Laboratory of Ecological Environment and Critical Human Diseases Prevention of Hunan Province Department of Education, School of Basic Medicine, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
| | - Yuxin Song
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Key Laboratory of Ecological Environment and Critical Human Diseases Prevention of Hunan Province Department of Education, School of Basic Medicine, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
| | - Sisi Liu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Key Laboratory of Ecological Environment and Critical Human Diseases Prevention of Hunan Province Department of Education, School of Basic Medicine, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
| | - Ziyan Lu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Key Laboratory of Ecological Environment and Critical Human Diseases Prevention of Hunan Province Department of Education, School of Basic Medicine, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
| | - Haodang Luo
- Hunan Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Biological Resources in the Nanyue Mountainous Region, College of Life Sciences, Hengyang Normal University, Hengyang 421002, China
- Correspondence: (H.L.); (X.T.)
| | - Xing Tang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Affiliated Nanhua Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
- Correspondence: (H.L.); (X.T.)
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37
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Luong AD, Buzid A, Luong JHT. Important Roles and Potential Uses of Natural and Synthetic Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs) in Oral Diseases: Cavity, Periodontal Disease, and Thrush. J Funct Biomater 2022; 13:jfb13040175. [PMID: 36278644 PMCID: PMC9589978 DOI: 10.3390/jfb13040175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Revised: 09/29/2022] [Accepted: 09/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Numerous epithelial cells and sometimes leukocytes release AMPs as their first line of defense. AMPs encompass cationic histatins, defensins, and cathelicidin to encounter oral pathogens with minimal resistance. However, their concentrations are significantly below the effective levels and AMPs are unstable under physiological conditions due to proteolysis, acid hydrolysis, and salt effects. In parallel to a search for more effective AMPs from natural sources, considerable efforts have focused on synthetic stable and low-cytotoxicy AMPs with significant activities against microorganisms. Using natural AMP templates, various attempts have been used to synthesize sAMPs with different charges, hydrophobicity, chain length, amino acid sequence, and amphipathicity. Thus far, sAMPs have been designed to target Streptococcus mutans and other common oral pathogens. Apart from sAMPs with antifungal activities against Candida albicans, future endeavors should focus on sAMPs with capabilities to promote remineralization and antibacterial adhesion. Delivery systems using nanomaterials and biomolecules are promising to stabilize, reduce cytotoxicity, and improve the antimicrobial activities of AMPs against oral pathogens. Nanostructured AMPs will soon become a viable alternative to antibiotics due to their antimicrobial mechanisms, broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, low drug residue, and ease of synthesis and modification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albert Donald Luong
- Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14215, USA
| | - Alyah Buzid
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Faisal University, P.O. Box 380, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
| | - John H. T. Luong
- School of Chemistry and Analytical & Biological Chemistry Research Facility (ABCRF), University College Cork, College Road, T12 YN60 Cork, Ireland
- Correspondence: or
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38
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Kumar M, Hasan M, Choyal P, Tomar M, Gupta OP, Sasi M, Changan S, Lorenzo JM, Singh S, Sampathrajan V, Dhumal S, Pandiselvam R, Sharma K, Satankar V, Waghmare R, Senapathy M, Sayed AA, Radha, Dey A, Amarowicz R, Kennedy JF. Cottonseed feedstock as a source of plant-based protein and bioactive peptides: Evidence based on biofunctionalities and industrial applications. Food Hydrocoll 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodhyd.2022.107776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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39
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de Moraes LFRN, Silva PSE, Pereira TCPL, Almeida Rodrigues TA, Farias Frihling BE, da Costa RA, Torquato HFV, Lima CS, Paredes-Gamero EJ, Migliolo L. First generation of multifunctional peptides derived from latarcin-3a from Lachesana tarabaevi spider toxin. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:965621. [PMID: 36212827 PMCID: PMC9532841 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.965621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 08/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The need for discovering new compounds that can act selectively on pathogens is becoming increasingly evident, given the number of deaths worldwide due to bacterial infections or tumor cells. New multifunctional biotechnological tools are being sought, including compounds present in spider venoms, which have high biotechnological potential. The present work aims to perform the rational design and functional evaluation of synthetic peptides derived from Lachesana tarabaevi spider toxin, known as latarcin-3a. The antimicrobial activity was tested against Gram-positive and -negative bacteria, with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) between 4 and 128 μg.ml−1. Anti-biofilm tests were then performed to obtain MICs, where the peptides demonstrated activity from 4 to 128 μg.ml−1. In vitro cell cytotoxicity assays were carried out from tumor cell lines, lineages C1498, Kasumi-1, K-562, Jurkat, MOLT4, and Raji. Erythrocyte integrity was evaluated in the presence of synthetic peptides analog, which did not promote hemolysis at 128 μg.ml−1. The peptide that showed the best antibacterial activity was Lt-MAP3 and the best antitumor was Lt-MAP2. In conclusion, rational design of multifunctional antimicrobial peptides may be promising alternative tools in the treatment of emerging diseases such as bacterial infections and tumor cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luiz Filipe Ramalho Nunes de Moraes
- S-Inova Biotech, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Dom Bosco, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
- Selkis Biotech, Startup, Laboratório de Artrópodes Peçonhentos, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
| | - Patrícia Souza e Silva
- S-Inova Biotech, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Dom Bosco, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
| | | | | | - Breno Emanuel Farias Frihling
- S-Inova Biotech, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Dom Bosco, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
- Selkis Biotech, Startup, Laboratório de Artrópodes Peçonhentos, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
| | - Rosiane Andrade da Costa
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Genômica e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brazil
| | | | - Cauê Santos Lima
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
| | - Edgar Julian Paredes-Gamero
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
| | - Ludovico Migliolo
- S-Inova Biotech, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Dom Bosco, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
- Selkis Biotech, Startup, Laboratório de Artrópodes Peçonhentos, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Bioquímica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil
- *Correspondence: Ludovico Migliolo,
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40
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Membranolytic Mechanism of Amphiphilic Antimicrobial β-Stranded [KL]n Peptides. Biomedicines 2022; 10:biomedicines10092071. [PMID: 36140173 PMCID: PMC9495826 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10092071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Revised: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 08/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Amphipathic peptides can act as antibiotics due to membrane permeabilization. KL peptides with the repetitive sequence [Lys-Leu]n-NH2 form amphipathic β-strands in the presence of lipid bilayers. As they are known to kill bacteria in a peculiar length-dependent manner, we suggest here several different functional models, all of which seem plausible, including a carpet mechanism, a β-barrel pore, a toroidal wormhole, and a β-helix. To resolve their genuine mechanism, the activity of KL peptides with lengths from 6–26 amino acids (plus some inverted LK analogues) was systematically tested against bacteria and erythrocytes. Vesicle leakage assays served to correlate bilayer thickness and peptide length and to examine the role of membrane curvature and putative pore diameter. KL peptides with 10–12 amino acids showed the best therapeutic potential, i.e., high antimicrobial activity and low hemolytic side effects. Mechanistically, this particular window of an optimum β-strand length around 4 nm (11 amino acids × 3.7 Å) would match the typical thickness of a lipid bilayer, implying the formation of a transmembrane pore. Solid-state 15N- and 19F-NMR structure analysis, however, showed that the KL backbone lies flat on the membrane surface under all conditions. We can thus refute any of the pore models and conclude that the KL peptides rather disrupt membranes by a carpet mechanism. The intriguing length-dependent optimum in activity can be fully explained by two counteracting effects, i.e., membrane binding versus amyloid formation. Very short KL peptides are inactive, because they are unable to bind to the lipid bilayer as flexible β-strands, whereas very long peptides are inactive due to vigorous pre-aggregation into β-sheets in solution.
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41
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Bahatheg G, Kuppusamy R, Yasir M, Black DS, Willcox M, Kumar N. Short Tryptamine-Based Peptoids as Potential Therapeutics for Microbial Keratitis: Structure-Function Correlation Studies. Antibiotics (Basel) 2022; 11:1074. [PMID: 36009943 PMCID: PMC9404767 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics11081074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Revised: 08/05/2022] [Accepted: 08/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Peptoids are peptidomimetics that have attracted considerable interest as a promising class of antimicrobials against multi-drug-resistant bacteria due to their resistance to proteolysis, bioavailability, and thermal stability compared to their corresponding peptides. Staphylococcus aureus is a significant contributor to infections worldwide and is a major pathogen in ocular infections (keratitis). S. aureus infections can be challenging to control and treat due to the development of multiple antibiotic resistance. This work describes short cationic peptoids with activity against S. aureus strains from keratitis. The peptoids were synthesized via acid amine-coupling between naphthyl-indole amine or naphthyl-phenyl amine with different amino acids to produce primary amines (series I), mono-guanidines (series II), tertiary amine salts (series III), quaternary ammonium salts (series IV), and di-guanidine (series V) peptoids. The antimicrobial activity of the peptoids was compared with ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic that is commonly used to treat keratitis. All new compounds were active against Staphylococcus aureus S.aureus 38. The most active compounds against S.aur38 were 20a and 22 with MIC = 3.9 μg mL−1 and 5.5 μg mL−1, respectively. The potency of these two active molecules was investigated against 12 S. aureus strains that were isolated from microbial keratitis. Compounds 20a and 22 were active against 12 strains with MIC = 3.2 μg mL−1 and 2.1 μg mL−1, respectively. There were two strains that were resistant to ciprofloxacin (Sa.111 and Sa.112) with MIC = 128 μg mL−1 and 256 μg mL−1, respectively. Compounds 12c and 13c were the most active against E. coli, with MIC > 12 μg mL−1. Cytoplasmic membrane permeability studies suggested that depolarization and disruption of the bacterial cell membrane could be a possible mechanism for antibacterial activity and the hemolysis studies toward horse red blood cells showed that the potent compounds are non-toxic at up to 50 μg mL−1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ghayah Bahatheg
- School of Chemistry, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Jeddah, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
| | - Rajesh Kuppusamy
- School of Chemistry, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Muhammad Yasir
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - David StC. Black
- School of Chemistry, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Mark Willcox
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Naresh Kumar
- School of Chemistry, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
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42
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Mescola A, Ragazzini G, Facci P, Alessandrini A. The potential of AFM in studying the role of the nanoscale amphipathic nature of (lipo)-peptides interacting with lipid bilayers. NANOTECHNOLOGY 2022; 33:432001. [PMID: 35830770 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac80c9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and lipopeptides (LPs) represent very promising molecules to fight resistant bacterial infections due to their broad-spectrum of activity, their first target, i.e. the bacterial membrane, and the rapid bactericidal action. For both types of molecules, the action mechanism starts from the membrane of the pathogen agents, producing a disorganization of their phase structure or the formation of pores of different size altering their permeability. This mechanism of action is based on physical interactions more than on a lock-and-key recognition event and it is difficult for the pathogens to rapidly develop an effective resistance. Very small differences in the sequence of both AMPs and LPs might lead to very different effects on the target membrane. Therefore, a correct understanding of their mechanism of action is required with the aim of developing new synthetic peptides, analogues of the natural ones, with specific and more powerful bactericidal activity. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), with its high resolution and the associated force spectroscopy resource, provides a valuable technique to investigate the reorganization of lipid bilayers exposed to antimicrobial or lipopeptides. Here, we present AFM results obtained by ours and other groups on the action of AMPs and LPs on supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) of different composition. We also consider data obtained by fluorescence microscopy to compare the AFM data with another technique which can be used on different lipid bilayer model systems such as SLBs and giant unilamellar vesicles. The outcomes here presented highlight the powerful of AFM-based techniques in detecting nanoscale peptide-membrane interactions and strengthen their use as an exceptional complementary tool toin vivoinvestigations. Indeed, the combination of these approaches can help decipher the mechanisms of action of different antimicrobials and lipopeptides at both the micro and nanoscale levels, and to design new and more efficient antimicrobial compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Mescola
- CNR-Nanoscience Institute-S3, Via Campi 213/A, I-41125, Modena, Italy
| | - Gregorio Ragazzini
- Department of Physics, Informatics and Mathematics, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 213/A, I-41125, Modena, Italy
| | - Paolo Facci
- CNR-Ibf, Via De Marini 6, I-16149, Genova, Italy
| | - Andrea Alessandrini
- CNR-Nanoscience Institute-S3, Via Campi 213/A, I-41125, Modena, Italy
- Department of Physics, Informatics and Mathematics, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 213/A, I-41125, Modena, Italy
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43
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Jiang J, Pan Y, Li J, Xia L. Cecropin-Loaded Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework Nanoparticles with High Biocompatibility and Cervical Cancer Cell Toxicity. Molecules 2022; 27:4364. [PMID: 35889239 PMCID: PMC9315993 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27144364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Revised: 07/03/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Cecropins (CECs) are insect venom-derived amphiphilic peptides with numerous pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-tumor activities. Cecropins induce tumor cell death by disrupting phospholipid membrane integrity. However, non-specific cytotoxicity and in vivo rapid degradation limit clinical application. Nanotechnologies provide novel strategies for tumor eradication, including nanocarriers that can precisely target drugs to tumor tissue. We report the fabrication of CEC-encapsulated zeolitic imidazolate framework 8 (ZIF-8) nanoparticles (CEC@ZIF-8 NPs) via the preparation of CEC@ZIF-8 NPs in pure water by one-pot stirring. This method yielded morphologically uniform NPs with 20 wt% drug loading capacity and 9% loading efficiency. The NP formulation protected CECs from proteasome degradation, enhanced peptide bioavailability, promoted HeLa tumor cell uptake, and increased antitumor efficacy compared to free CECs. In conclusion, this ZIF-8 encapsulation strategy may enhance the clinical applicability of CECs and other antitumor peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Jinyao Li
- Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830017, China; (J.J.); (Y.P.)
| | - Lijie Xia
- Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830017, China; (J.J.); (Y.P.)
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44
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Parchebafi A, Tamanaee F, Ehteram H, Ahmad E, Nikzad H, Haddad Kashani H. The dual interaction of antimicrobial peptides on bacteria and cancer cells; mechanism of action and therapeutic strategies of nanostructures. Microb Cell Fact 2022; 21:118. [PMID: 35717207 PMCID: PMC9206340 DOI: 10.1186/s12934-022-01848-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Microbial infection and cancer are two leading causes of global mortality. Discovering and developing new therapeutics with better specificity having minimal side-effects and no drug resistance are of an immense need. In this regard, cationic antimicrobial peptides (AMP) with dual antimicrobial and anticancer activities are the ultimate choice. For better efficacy and improved stability, the AMPs available for treatment still required to be modified. There are several strategies in which AMPs can be enhanced through, for instance, nano-carrier application with high selectivity and specificity enables researchers to estimate the rate of drug delivery to a particular tissue. In this review we present the biology and modes of action of AMPs for both anticancer and antimicrobial activities as well as some modification strategies to improve the efficacy and selectivity of these AMPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atefeh Parchebafi
- Anatomical Sciences Research Center, Institute for Basic Sciences, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
| | - Farzaneh Tamanaee
- Anatomical Sciences Research Center, Institute for Basic Sciences, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
| | - Hassan Ehteram
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
| | - Ejaz Ahmad
- Department of Pathology, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Hossein Nikzad
- Anatomical Sciences Research Center, Institute for Basic Sciences, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
| | - Hamed Haddad Kashani
- Anatomical Sciences Research Center, Institute for Basic Sciences, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
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45
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Sarker A. A Review on the Application of Bioactive Peptides as Preservatives and Functional Ingredients in Food Model Systems. J FOOD PROCESS PRES 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/jfpp.16800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ayesha Sarker
- Assistant Professor for Food Science Agricultural and Environmental Research Station, West Virginia State University Institute WV USA
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46
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Amorim-Carmo B, Parente AMS, Souza ES, Silva-Junior AA, Araújo RM, Fernandes-Pedrosa MF. Antimicrobial Peptide Analogs From Scorpions: Modifications and Structure-Activity. Front Mol Biosci 2022; 9:887763. [PMID: 35712354 PMCID: PMC9197468 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.887763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The rapid development of multidrug-resistant pathogens against conventional antibiotics is a global public health problem. The irrational use of antibiotics has promoted therapeutic limitations against different infections, making research of new molecules that can be applied to treat infections necessary. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a class of promising antibiotic molecules as they present broad action spectrum, potent activity, and do not easily induce resistance. Several AMPs from scorpion venoms have been described as a potential source for the development of new drugs; however, some limitations to their application are also observed. Here, we describe strategies used in several approaches to optimize scorpion AMPs, addressing their primary sequence, biotechnological potential, and characteristics that should be considered when developing an AMP derived from scorpion venoms. In addition, this review may contribute towards improving the understanding of rationally designing new molecules, targeting functional AMPs that may have a therapeutic application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruno Amorim-Carmo
- Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biotechnology, Pharmacy Department, Federal University of Rio Grande do North, Natal, Brazil
| | - Adriana M. S. Parente
- Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biotechnology, Pharmacy Department, Federal University of Rio Grande do North, Natal, Brazil
| | - Eden S. Souza
- School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Sciences, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Arnóbio A. Silva-Junior
- Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biotechnology, Pharmacy Department, Federal University of Rio Grande do North, Natal, Brazil
| | - Renata M. Araújo
- Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biotechnology, Pharmacy Department, Federal University of Rio Grande do North, Natal, Brazil
| | - Matheus F. Fernandes-Pedrosa
- Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biotechnology, Pharmacy Department, Federal University of Rio Grande do North, Natal, Brazil
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47
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Liu L, Wang C, Zhang M, Zhang Z, Wu Y, Zhang Y. An Efficient Evaluation System Accelerates α-Helical Antimicrobial Peptide Discovery and Its Application to Global Human Genome Mining. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:870361. [PMID: 35547131 PMCID: PMC9083330 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.870361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), as an important part of the innate immune system of an organism, is a kind of promising drug candidate for novel antibiotics due to their unique antibacterial mechanism. However, the discovery of novel AMPs is facing a great challenge due to the complexity of systematic experiments and the poor predictability of antimicrobial activity. Here, a novel and comprehensive screening system, the Multiple Descriptor Multiple Strategy (MultiDS), was proposed based on 59 physicochemical and structural parameters, three strategies, and four algorithms for the mining of α-helical AMPs. This approach was applied to mine the encrypted peptide antibiotics from the global human genome, including introns and exons. A library of approximately 70 billion peptides with 15–25 amino acid residues was screened by the MultiDS system and generated a list of peptides with the Multiple Descriptor Index (MD index) scores, which was the core part of the MultiDS system. Sixty peptides with top MD scores were chemically synthesized and experimentally tested their antimicrobial activity against 10 kinds of Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria (including drug-resistant pathogens). A total of fifty-nine out of 60 (98.3%) peptides exhibited antimicrobial activity (MIC ≤ 64 μg/mL), and 24 out of 60 (40%) peptides showed high activity (MIC ≤ 2 μg/mL), validating the MultiDS system was an effective and predictive screening tool with high hit rate and superior antimicrobial activity. For further investigation, AMPs S1, S2, and S3 with the highest MD scores were used to treat the skin infection mouse models in vivo caused by Escherichia coli, drug-resistance Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. All of S1, S2, and S3 showed comparable therapeutic effects on promoting infection healing to or even better than the positive drug levofloxacin. A mechanism study discovered that rapid bactericidal action was caused by cell membrane disruption and content leakage. The MultiDS system not only provides a high-throughput approach that allows for the mining of candidate AMPs from the global genome sequence but also opens up a new route to accelerate the discovery of peptide antibiotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Licheng Liu
- School of Life Sciences and Biopharmaceutics, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, China
| | - Caiyun Wang
- School of Life Sciences and Biopharmaceutics, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, China
| | - Mengyue Zhang
- School of Life Sciences and Biopharmaceutics, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, China
| | - Zixuan Zhang
- School of Life Sciences and Biopharmaceutics, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, China
| | - Yingying Wu
- School of Life Sciences and Biopharmaceutics, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, China
| | - Yixuan Zhang
- School of Life Sciences and Biopharmaceutics, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, China
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48
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Gong Y, Li H, Wu F, Zhang X, Zhou Y, Zhang S. A short peptide derived from zebrafish
AP
‐2 complex subunit
mu‐A AP2M1A
354
–382
has antimicrobial activity against multi‐drug resistant bacteria. Pept Sci (Hoboken) 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/pep2.24258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yi Gong
- Department of Marine Biology, Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity Ocean University of China Qingdao China
| | - Haoyi Li
- Department of Marine Biology, Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity Ocean University of China Qingdao China
| | - Fei Wu
- Department of Marine Biology, Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity Ocean University of China Qingdao China
| | - Xiangmin Zhang
- Department of Marine Biology, Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity Ocean University of China Qingdao China
| | - Yucong Zhou
- Department of Marine Biology, Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity Ocean University of China Qingdao China
| | - Shicui Zhang
- Department of Marine Biology, Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity Ocean University of China Qingdao China
- Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao) Qingdao China
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49
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Luong HX, Bui HTP, Tung TT. Application of the All-Hydrocarbon Stapling Technique in the Design of Membrane-Active Peptides. J Med Chem 2022; 65:3026-3045. [PMID: 35112864 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c01744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The threats of drug resistance and new emerging pathogens have led to an urgent need to develop alternative treatment therapies. Recently, considerable research efforts have focused on membrane-active peptides (MAPs), a category of peptides in drug discovery with antimicrobial, anticancer, and cell penetration activities that have demonstrated their potential to be multifunctional agents. Nonetheless, natural MAPs have encountered various disadvantages, which mainly include poor bioavailability, the lack of a secondary structure in short peptides, and high production costs for long peptide sequences. Hence, an "all-hydrocarbon stapling system" has been applied to these peptides and proven to effectively stabilize the helical conformations, improving proteolytic resistance and increasing both the potency and the cell permeability. In this review, we summarized and categorized the advances made using this powerful technique in the development of stapled MAPs. Furthermore, outstanding issues and suggestions for future design within each subcategory were thoroughly discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huy Xuan Luong
- Faculty of Pharmacy, PHENIKAA University, Hanoi 12116, Vietnam.,PHENIKAA Institute for Advanced Study (PIAS), PHENIKAA University, Hanoi 12116, Vietnam
| | | | - Truong Thanh Tung
- Faculty of Pharmacy, PHENIKAA University, Hanoi 12116, Vietnam.,PHENIKAA Institute for Advanced Study (PIAS), PHENIKAA University, Hanoi 12116, Vietnam
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50
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Matthyssen T, Li W, Holden JA, Lenzo JC, Hadjigol S, O’Brien-Simpson NM. The Potential of Modified and Multimeric Antimicrobial Peptide Materials as Superbug Killers. Front Chem 2022; 9:795433. [PMID: 35083194 PMCID: PMC8785218 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2021.795433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are found in nearly all living organisms, show broad spectrum antibacterial activity, and can modulate the immune system. Furthermore, they have a very low level of resistance induction in bacteria, which makes them an ideal target for drug development and for targeting multi-drug resistant bacteria 'Superbugs'. Despite this promise, AMP therapeutic use is hampered as typically they are toxic to mammalian cells, less active under physiological conditions and are susceptible to proteolytic degradation. Research has focused on addressing these limitations by modifying natural AMP sequences by including e.g., d-amino acids and N-terminal and amino acid side chain modifications to alter structure, hydrophobicity, amphipathicity, and charge of the AMP to improve antimicrobial activity and specificity and at the same time reduce mammalian cell toxicity. Recently, multimerisation (dimers, oligomer conjugates, dendrimers, polymers and self-assembly) of natural and modified AMPs has further been used to address these limitations and has created compounds that have improved activity and biocompatibility compared to their linear counterparts. This review investigates how modifying and multimerising AMPs impacts their activity against bacteria in planktonic and biofilm states of growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamara Matthyssen
- ACTV Research Group, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Dental School, Centre for Oral Health Research, Royal Dental Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Wenyi Li
- ACTV Research Group, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Dental School, Centre for Oral Health Research, Royal Dental Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - James A. Holden
- Centre for Oral Health Research, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Dental School, Royal Dental Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Jason C. Lenzo
- Centre for Oral Health Research, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Dental School, Royal Dental Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Sara Hadjigol
- ACTV Research Group, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Dental School, Centre for Oral Health Research, Royal Dental Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Neil M. O’Brien-Simpson
- ACTV Research Group, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Dental School, Centre for Oral Health Research, Royal Dental Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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