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Wang S, Li H, Huang Y, Zhuo W, Li T, Jiang T, Huang Q, Zhou R. Porcine β-Defensin 2 Expressed in Pichia pastoris Alleviates Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli-Induced Intestinal Injury and Inflammatory Response in Mice. Animals (Basel) 2025; 15:1389. [PMID: 40427267 PMCID: PMC12108179 DOI: 10.3390/ani15101389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2025] [Revised: 05/05/2025] [Accepted: 05/08/2025] [Indexed: 05/29/2025] Open
Abstract
Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), a common intestinal pathogen, can colonize the intestines and induce diarrhea in piglets, which brings great economic losses to the swine industry. Antibiotics are recommended to the treatment for diarrhea caused by ETEC in weaned piglets. However, with the emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant ETEC, there is an urgent need to develop alternatives to antibiotics. Due to the unique antibacterial mechanism of targeting bacterial membranes, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are promising candidates. In this study, the activity of crude recombinant porcine β-defensin 2 (rPBD2) expressed in Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris) was measured in vitro. Mice infected with ETEC were orally administered 16, 8, and 4 AU crude rPBD2 for 7 consecutive days to evaluate its anti-infective activity in vivo. The results showed that in addition to broad antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and -negative bacteria, crude rPBD2 displayed high tolerance to temperatures ranging from 20 to 60 °C, a broad range of pH, trypsin, pepsin, and physiological concentrations of salts. In an ETEC-induced mouse model, the oral administration of crude rPBD2 decreased diarrhea scores and the intestinal/carcass ratio and alleviated body weight loss. Additionally, crude rPBD2 decreased bacterial loads in stools and the colon (HP group), and the levels of serum pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 (HP group) and TNF-α (HP and MP groups), and increased the villus height and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth (VH/CD) in the ileum (HP and MP groups). Our study provides a cost-effective way for PBD2 production and identifies it as a promising candidate to combat ETEC-induced infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuaiyang Wang
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (S.W.); (H.L.); (Y.H.); (W.Z.); (T.L.); (T.J.); (Q.H.)
| | - Huaixia Li
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (S.W.); (H.L.); (Y.H.); (W.Z.); (T.L.); (T.J.); (Q.H.)
| | - Yaxue Huang
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (S.W.); (H.L.); (Y.H.); (W.Z.); (T.L.); (T.J.); (Q.H.)
| | - Wenxiao Zhuo
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (S.W.); (H.L.); (Y.H.); (W.Z.); (T.L.); (T.J.); (Q.H.)
| | - Tingting Li
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (S.W.); (H.L.); (Y.H.); (W.Z.); (T.L.); (T.J.); (Q.H.)
| | - Tingting Jiang
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (S.W.); (H.L.); (Y.H.); (W.Z.); (T.L.); (T.J.); (Q.H.)
| | - Qi Huang
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (S.W.); (H.L.); (Y.H.); (W.Z.); (T.L.); (T.J.); (Q.H.)
- International Research Center for Animal Disease, Ministry of Science & Technology of China, Wuhan 430070, China
- The Cooperative Innovation Center of Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Rui Zhou
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (S.W.); (H.L.); (Y.H.); (W.Z.); (T.L.); (T.J.); (Q.H.)
- International Research Center for Animal Disease, Ministry of Science & Technology of China, Wuhan 430070, China
- The Cooperative Innovation Center of Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
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