Baumann T, Kämpfer U, Schürch S, Schaller J, Largiadèr C, Nentwig W, Kuhn-Nentwig L. Ctenidins: antimicrobial glycine-rich peptides from the hemocytes of the spider Cupiennius salei.
Cell Mol Life Sci 2010;
67:2787-98. [PMID:
20369272 PMCID:
PMC11115836 DOI:
10.1007/s00018-010-0364-0]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2010] [Revised: 03/15/2010] [Accepted: 03/17/2010] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Three novel glycine-rich peptides, named ctenidin 1-3, with activity against the Gram-negative bacterium E. coli, were isolated and characterized from hemocytes of the spider Cupiennius salei. Ctenidins have a high glycine content (>70%), similarly to other glycine-rich peptides, the acanthoscurrins, from another spider, Acanthoscurria gomesiana. A combination of mass spectrometry, Edman degradation, and cDNA cloning revealed the presence of three isoforms of ctenidin, at least two of them originating from simple, intronless genes. The full-length sequences of the ctenidins consist of a 19 amino acid residues signal peptide followed by the mature peptides of 109, 119, or 120 amino acid residues. The mature peptides are post-translationally modified by the cleavage of one or two C-terminal cationic amino acid residue(s) and amidation of the newly created mature C-terminus. Tissue expression analysis revealed that ctenidins are constitutively expressed in hemocytes and to a small extent also in the subesophageal nerve mass.
Collapse