Sawai MV, Waring AJ, Kearney WR, McCray PB, Forsyth WR, Lehrer RI, Tack BF. Impact of single-residue mutations on the structure and function of ovispirin/novispirin antimicrobial peptides.
Protein Eng Des Sel 2002;
15:225-32. [PMID:
11932493 DOI:
10.1093/protein/15.3.225]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We studied three model antibacterial peptides that resembled the N-terminal 18 amino acids of SMAP-29, an alpha-helical, antimicrobial peptide of sheep. Although the parent compound, ovispirin-1 (KNLRR IIRKI IHIIK KYG), was potently antimicrobial, it was also highly cytotoxic to human epithelial cells and hemolytic for human erythrocytes. Single residue substitutions to ovispirin-1 yielded two substantially less cytotoxic peptides (novispirins), with intact antimicrobial properties. One of these, novispirin G-10, differed from ovispirin-1 only by containing glycine at position 10, instead of isoleucine. The other, novispirin T-7, contained threonine instead of isoleucine at position 7. We determined the three-dimensional solution structures of all three peptides by circular dichroism spectroscopy and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Although all retained an amphipathic helical structure in 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol, they manifested subtle fine-structural changes that evidently impacted their activities greatly. These findings show that simple structural modifications can 'fine-tune' an antimicrobial peptide to minimize unwanted cytotoxicity while retaining its desired activity.
Collapse