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Cantini F, Giannì P, Bobone S, Troiano C, van Ingen H, Massoud R, Perini N, Migliore L, Savarin P, Sanders C, Stella L, Sette M. Structural and Functional Characterization of the Newly Designed Antimicrobial Peptide Crabrolin21. Membranes (Basel) 2023; 13:365. [PMID: 36984752 PMCID: PMC10053045 DOI: 10.3390/membranes13030365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2023] [Revised: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
(1) Background: antimicrobial resistance is becoming a dramatic problem for public health, and the design of new antimicrobial agents is an active research area. (2) Methods: based on our previous work, we designed an improved version of the crabrolin peptide and characterized its functional and structural properties with a wide range of techniques. (3) Results: the newly designed peptide, crabrolin21, is much more active than the previous ones and shows specific selectivity towards bacterial cells. (4) Conclusions: crabrolin21 shows interesting properties and deserves further studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Cantini
- Magnetic Resonance Center (CERM), University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Firenze, Italy
- Department of Chemistry, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Firenze, Italy
| | - Paola Giannì
- Department of Chemical Sciences and Technology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
- Fondazione G.I.M.EM.A.-Franco Mandelli Onlus, 00182 Rome, Italy
| | - Sara Bobone
- Department of Chemical Sciences and Technology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Cassandra Troiano
- Department of Chemical Sciences and Technology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Hugo van Ingen
- NMR Spectroscopy, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Renato Massoud
- Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Viale della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Nicoletta Perini
- Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Luciana Migliore
- Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
- eCampus University, 22060 Novedrate, Italy
| | - Philippe Savarin
- Chemistry Structures Properties of Biomaterials and Therapeutic Agents Laboratory (CSPBAT), Nanomédecine Biomarqueurs Détection Team (NBD), Sorbonne Paris Nord University, The National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), UMR 7244, 74 Rue Marcel Cachin, CEDEX, 93017 Bobigny, France
| | - Charles Sanders
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
- Center for Structural Biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Lorenzo Stella
- Department of Chemical Sciences and Technology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Marco Sette
- Department of Chemical Sciences and Technology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
- Chemistry Structures Properties of Biomaterials and Therapeutic Agents Laboratory (CSPBAT), Nanomédecine Biomarqueurs Détection Team (NBD), Sorbonne Paris Nord University, The National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), UMR 7244, 74 Rue Marcel Cachin, CEDEX, 93017 Bobigny, France
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2
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Perini N, Mercuri F, Orlanducci S, Thaller MC, Migliore L. The Integration of Metagenomics and Chemical Physical Techniques Biodecoded the Buried Traces of the Biodeteriogens of Parchment Purple Spots. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:598945. [PMID: 33408706 PMCID: PMC7779469 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.598945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2020] [Accepted: 12/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Ancient parchments record an immense part of our cultural heritage, having been used as the main written support material for centuries. Parchment easily undergoes biodeterioration, whose main signs are the so-called purple spots, which often lead to detachment of the superficial written layer. Up to recent years, several studies have been analyzing damaged parchments from different world’s archives, trying to trace back the culprit of the purple spots. However, standard cultivation and early molecular techniques have been demonstrated to be unsuccessful, leading the parchment damage issue remaining unsolved for many years. Nowadays, some studies have explored the parchment biodeterioration dynamics by adopting a multidisciplinary approach combining standard microbiological methods with high-throughput molecular, chemical and physical techniques. This approach allowed an unprecedented level of knowledge on the complex dynamics of parchment biodeterioration. This mini review discusses the application of the combination of basic and high-throughput techniques to study historical parchments, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of this approach. In particular, it focuses on how metagenomics has been paramount for the unequivocal identification of the microbial main actors of parchment biodeterioration and their dynamics, but also on how metagenomics may suffer the distortion inflict by the historical perspective on the analysis of ancient specimens. As a whole, this mini review aims to describe the scenario of information on parchment biodeterioration obtained so far by using the integration of metagenomic with recent chemical (Raman spectroscopy) and physical (Light Transmission Analysis) approaches, which might have key implications in the preservation of many ancient documents.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Fulvio Mercuri
- Department of Industrial Engineering, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy
| | - Silvia Orlanducci
- Department of Chemical Science and Technology, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy
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Congestri R, Savio S, Farrotti S, Amati A, Krasojevic K, Perini N, Costa F, Migliore L. Developing a microbial consortium for removing nutrients in dishwasher wastewater: towards a biofilter for its up-cycling. Water Sci Technol 2020; 82:1142-1154. [PMID: 33055404 DOI: 10.2166/wst.2020.325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Microbial consortia are effective biofilters to treat wastewaters, allowing for resource recovery and water remediation. To reuse and save water in the domestic cycle, we assembled a suspended biofilm, a 'biofilter' to treat dishwasher wastewater. Bacterial monocultures of both photo- and heterotrophs were assembled in an increasingly complex fashion to test their nutrient stripping capacity. This 'biofilter' is the core of an integrated system (Zero Mile System) devoted to reusing and upcycling of reconditioned wastewater, partly in subsequent dishwasher cycles and partly into a vertical garden for plant food cultivation. The biofilter was assembled based on a strain of the photosynthetic, filamentous cyanobacterium Trichormus variabilis, selected to produce an oxygen evolving scaffold, and three heterotrophic aerobic bacterial isolates coming from the dishwasher wastewater itself: Acinetobacter, Exiguobacterium and Pseudomonas spp. The consortium was constructed starting with 16 isolates tested one-to-one with T. variabilis and then selecting the heterotrophic microbes up to a final one-to-three consortium, which included two dominant and a rare component of the wastewater community. This consortium thrives in the wastewater much better than T. variabilis alone, efficiently stripping N and P in short time, a pivotal step for the reuse and saving of water in household appliances.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Congestri
- Department of Biology, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Via della Ricerca Scientifica, Rome 00133, Italy E-mail:
| | - S Savio
- Department of Biology, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Via della Ricerca Scientifica, Rome 00133, Italy E-mail:
| | - S Farrotti
- Department of Biology, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Via della Ricerca Scientifica, Rome 00133, Italy E-mail:
| | - A Amati
- Department of Biology, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Via della Ricerca Scientifica, Rome 00133, Italy E-mail: ; Department of Design, Polytechnic University of Milan, Via Durando 38/A, Milan 20158, Italy
| | - K Krasojevic
- Department of Biology, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Via della Ricerca Scientifica, Rome 00133, Italy E-mail: ; Department of Design, Polytechnic University of Milan, Via Durando 38/A, Milan 20158, Italy
| | - N Perini
- Department of Biology, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Via della Ricerca Scientifica, Rome 00133, Italy E-mail:
| | - F Costa
- Department of Design, Polytechnic University of Milan, Via Durando 38/A, Milan 20158, Italy
| | - L Migliore
- Department of Biology, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Via della Ricerca Scientifica, Rome 00133, Italy E-mail:
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Aschi M, Perini N, Bouchemal N, Luzi C, Savarin P, Migliore L, Bozzi A, Sette M. Structural characterization and biological activity of Crabrolin peptide isoforms with different positive charge. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes 2020; 1862:183055. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2019.183055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2019] [Revised: 08/20/2019] [Accepted: 08/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
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Perini N, Mercuri F, Thaller MC, Orlanducci S, Castiello D, Talarico V, Migliore L. The Stain of the Original Salt: Red Heats on Chrome Tanned Leathers and Purple Spots on Ancient Parchments Are Two Sides of the Same Ecological Coin. Front Microbiol 2019; 10:2459. [PMID: 31736905 PMCID: PMC6828845 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.02459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2019] [Accepted: 10/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Animal hides are one of man's earliest and mostly used materials; many rawhide products, primarily leather, have for centuries been used for several purposes. The peculiar mechanical properties of leather depend on the hide composition, a dense collagen feltwork. Unfortunately, due to their proteic composition, rawhides may undergo microbial attack and biodeterioration. Over centuries, different processes and treatments (brining, vegetal or chrome tanning, tawing, etc.) were set up to face the biological attack and modify/stabilise the hide's mechanical properties. Nevertheless, even present-day rawhides are subjected to biological colonisation, and traces of this colonisation are clearly shown in Chrome(III) tanned leathers (in the wet blue stage), with obvious economic damages. The colonisation traces on tanned leathers consist of isolated or coalescent red patches, known as red heat deterioration. Parchments are rawhide products, too; they derive from another manufacturing procedure. Even parchments undergo microbial attack; the parchment biodeterioration seems comparable to leather red heat deterioration and is known as purple spots. Recently, an ecological succession model explained the process of historical parchment purple spot deterioration; the haloarchaea Halobacterium salinarum is the pioneer organism triggering this attack. The marine salt used to prevent rawhide rotting is the carrier of haloarchaea colonisers (Migliore et al., 2019). The aim of this study was to investigate the dynamics of biodeterioration on Chrome(III) tanned leathers and its effects on the stability/integrity of collagen structure. To this end, standard cultivation methods were integrated with three updated technologies, Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS), Raman spectroscopy, and Light Transmitted Analysis (LTA). A bioinformatic comparison between chrome tanned leather vs. historical parchment colonisers was performed to evaluate if leather and parchment share common culprits; furthermore, the effect of the biodeterioration on the physical properties of the hide product was evaluated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicoletta Perini
- Department of Biology, Tor Vergata University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Fulvio Mercuri
- Department of Industrial Engineering, Tor Vergata University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Silvia Orlanducci
- Department of Chemical Science and Technology, Tor Vergata University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | | | | | - Luciana Migliore
- Department of Biology, Tor Vergata University of Rome, Rome, Italy
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Vadrucci M, Borgognoni F, Cicero C, Perini N, Migliore L, Mercuri F, Orazi N, Rubechini A. Parchment processing and analysis: Ionizing radiation treatment by the REX source and multidisciplinary approach characterization. Appl Radiat Isot 2019; 149:159-164. [PMID: 31063965 DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2019.04.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2018] [Revised: 04/11/2019] [Accepted: 04/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Library material, and thus parchment, is frequently subjected to bio-deterioration processes caused by microorganisms. Fungi and bacteria cause alterations in the parchment inducing, in some cases, even the partial detachments of the surface layer and the loss of any text present on it. An important contribution to disinfection of the cultural heritage artefacts is given by the use of ionizing radiation. In this work, a preliminary study on the applicability of X-ray radiation as treatment for bio-deterioration removal is proposed. The results on the microbial growth after different irradiation treatments are shown in order to detect the dose protocol for the bio-degradation removal. Furthermore, the evaluation of the irradiation effects on the parchment microstructure is presented in order to define the applicability of the method on parchment artefacts.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - C Cicero
- Dept. Industrial Engineering, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy
| | - N Perini
- Dept. Biology, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy
| | - L Migliore
- Dept. Biology, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy
| | - F Mercuri
- Dept. Industrial Engineering, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy
| | - N Orazi
- Dept. Industrial Engineering, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy
| | - A Rubechini
- Archivio Segreto Vaticano, Vatican City State
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Migliore L, Perini N, Mercuri F, Orlanducci S, Rubechini A, Thaller MC. Three ancient documents solve the jigsaw of the parchment purple spot deterioration and validate the microbial succession model. Sci Rep 2019; 9:1623. [PMID: 30733463 PMCID: PMC6367363 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-37651-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2018] [Accepted: 12/07/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The preservation of cultural heritage is one of the major challenges of today's society. Parchments, a semi-solid matrix of collagen produced from animal skin, are a significant part of the cultural heritage, being used as writing material since ancient times. Due to their animal origin, parchments easily undergo biodeterioration: the most common biological damage is characterized by isolated or coalescent purple spots, that often lead to the detachment of the superficial layer and the consequent loss of written content. Although many parchments with purple spot biodegradative features were studied, no common causative agent had been identified so far. In a previous study a successional model has been proposed, basing on the multidisciplinary analysis of damaged versus undamaged samples from a moderately damaged document. Although no specific sequences were observed, the results pointed to Halobacterium salinarum as the starting actor of the succession. In this study, to further investigate this topic, three dramatically damaged parchments were analysed; belonging to a collection archived as Faldone Patrizi A 19, and dated back XVI-XVII century A.D. With the same multidisciplinary approach, the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS, Illumina platform) revealed DNA sequences belonging to Halobacterium salinarum; the RAMAN spectroscopy identified the pigment within the purple spots as haloarchaeal bacterioruberin and bacteriorhodopsine, and the LTA technique quantified the extremely damaged collagen structures through the entire parchments, due to the biological attack to the parchment frame structures. These results allowed to propose a model of the progressive degradation pattern of the parchment collagen. Overall, these data validate a multi-phase microbial succession model. This demonstration is pivotal to possible new restoration strategies, important for a huge number of ancient documents.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Fulvio Mercuri
- Department of Industrial Engineering, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy.
| | - Silvia Orlanducci
- Department of Chemical Science and Technology, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy
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