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Chaudhary S, Ali Z, Mahfouz M. Molecular farming for sustainable production of clinical-grade antimicrobial peptides. PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL 2024; 22:2282-2300. [PMID: 38685599 PMCID: PMC11258990 DOI: 10.1111/pbi.14344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are emerging as next-generation therapeutics due to their broad-spectrum activity against drug-resistant bacterial strains and their ability to eradicate biofilms, modulate immune responses, exert anti-inflammatory effects and improve disease management. They are produced through solid-phase peptide synthesis or in bacterial or yeast cells. Molecular farming, i.e. the production of biologics in plants, offers a low-cost, non-toxic, scalable and simple alternative platform to produce AMPs at a sustainable cost. In this review, we discuss the advantages of molecular farming for producing clinical-grade AMPs, advances in expression and purification systems and the cost advantage for industrial-scale production. We further review how 'green' production is filling the sustainability gap, streamlining patent and regulatory approvals and enabling successful clinical translations that demonstrate the future potential of AMPs produced by molecular farming. Finally, we discuss the regulatory challenges that need to be addressed to fully realize the potential of molecular farming-based AMP production for therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahid Chaudhary
- Laboratory for Genome Engineering and Synthetic Biology, Division of Biological Sciences4700 King Abdullah University of Science and TechnologyThuwalSaudi Arabia
| | - Zahir Ali
- Laboratory for Genome Engineering and Synthetic Biology, Division of Biological Sciences4700 King Abdullah University of Science and TechnologyThuwalSaudi Arabia
| | - Magdy Mahfouz
- Laboratory for Genome Engineering and Synthetic Biology, Division of Biological Sciences4700 King Abdullah University of Science and TechnologyThuwalSaudi Arabia
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Nazarian-Firouzabadi F, Torres MDT, de la Fuente-Nunez C. Recombinant production of antimicrobial peptides in plants. Biotechnol Adv 2024; 71:108296. [PMID: 38042311 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2023.108296] [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: 09/06/2023] [Revised: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 11/26/2023] [Indexed: 12/04/2023]
Abstract
Classical plant breeding methods are limited in their ability to confer disease resistance on plants. However, in recent years, advancements in molecular breeding and biotechnological have provided new approaches to overcome these limitations and protect plants from disease. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) constitute promising agents that may be able to protect against infectious agents. Recently, peptides have been recombinantly produced in plants at scale and low cost. Because AMPs are less likely than conventional antimicrobials to elicit resistance of pathogenic bacteria, they open up exciting new avenues for agricultural applications. Here, we review recent advances in the design and production of bioactive recombinant AMPs that can effectively protect crop plants from diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farhad Nazarian-Firouzabadi
- Production Engineering and Plant Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Lorestan University, P.O. Box, 465, Khorramabad, Iran.
| | - Marcelo Der Torossian Torres
- Machine Biology Group, Departments of Psychiatry and Microbiology, Institute for Biomedical Informatics, Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America; Departments of Bioengineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America; Penn Institute for Computational Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
| | - Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez
- Machine Biology Group, Departments of Psychiatry and Microbiology, Institute for Biomedical Informatics, Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America; Departments of Bioengineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America; Penn Institute for Computational Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America.
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Thompson C, Williams ML. Review of the physiological effects of Phyllomedusa bicolor skin secretion peptides on humans receiving Kambô. TOXICOLOGY RESEARCH AND APPLICATION 2022. [DOI: 10.1177/23978473221085746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Kambô is an Amazonian ritual which includes the application of the defensive secretion of the Phyllomedusa bicolor frog to superficial burns made on the skin of human participants. The secretion, which contains a range of biologically active linear peptides, induces a short purgative experience that is extensively reported by participants to leave them with positive physical, emotional and spiritual after-effects. Various peptides identified in the secretion exert analgesic, vascular, and gastric effects in vivo, and antimicrobial and anti-cancer effects, among others, in vitro. While there has been some investigation into the physiological effects of various individual peptides isolated from the P. bicolor secretion, very little is known about the putative synergistic effects of concurrent administration of the complete substance through the transdermal methods used traditionally in the Kambô ritual. In this review and commentary, the authors summarize the existing biological information from animal research on peptides from the P. bicolor secretion, then consider the evidence in the context of Kambô administration to humans. The presented information suggests that specific peptides are likely to contribute to analogous physiological effects of Kambô in humans. The possibility that beyond their physiological action, the experiential or phenomenological component of these effects may have therapeutic applications is discussed, concluding with a consideration of the feasibility of human clinical research.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Martin L Williams
- Turner Institute of Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Li X, Fan Y, Lin Q, Luo J, Huang Y, Bao Y, Xu L. Expression of chromogranin A-derived antifungal peptide CGA-N12 in Pichia pastoris. Bioengineered 2020; 11:318-327. [PMID: 32163000 PMCID: PMC7161563 DOI: 10.1080/21655979.2020.1736237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The human chromogranin A-derived peptide CGA-N12, which is composed of 12 amino acid residues with the sequence ALQGAKERAHQQ, showed strong antifungal activity and the least hemolytic activity in previous studies. However, synthetic peptides are relatively expensive to produce. Recombinant expression of peptides in the host cells, such as bacteria or yeast, can fastly provide cost-efficient products of peptides. Here, we developed an innovative system to produce CGA-N12 peptides in the yeast Pichia pastoris GS115 using genetic engineering technology. In order to directly secret short CGA-N12 peptides into the culture media from GS115 cells and enhance its expression effect, the structure of the CGA-N12 coding sequence was designed to mimic that of native α-factor gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Four long primer pairs with sticky end were used to synthesize CGA-N12 expression sequence which contains four copies of CGA-N12 flanked by a Lys-Arg pair and two Glu-Ala repeating units. Endogenous proteases Kex2 and Ste13 in Golgi apparatus recognize and excise Lys-Arg and Glu-Ala pair to release short CGA-N12 peptides from the tandem repeat sequences, respectively. The CGA-N12 peptides were successfully expressed in Pichia pastoris with a yield of up to 30 mg/L of yeast culture as determined using HPLC. Our study indicated that the strategy employed in this work may be a good way to express small-molecule peptides directly in the Pichia pastoris system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaohua Li
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, Affiliated Fuzhou First Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Yong Fan
- Central Laboratory, Affiliated Fuzhou First Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Qiong Lin
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, Affiliated Fuzhou First Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Jianxiong Luo
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, Affiliated Fuzhou First Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Yide Huang
- Provincial University Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Response and Metabolic Regulation, College of Life Sciences, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Yuwang Bao
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, Affiliated Fuzhou First Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Liyu Xu
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, Affiliated Fuzhou First Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China.,Central Laboratory, Affiliated Fuzhou First Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
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Gil-Gil T, Laborda P, Sanz-García F, Hernando-Amado S, Blanco P, Martínez JL. Antimicrobial resistance: A multifaceted problem with multipronged solutions. Microbiologyopen 2020; 8:e945. [PMID: 31724836 PMCID: PMC6855134 DOI: 10.1002/mbo3.945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2019] [Accepted: 09/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Infectious diseases still stand as a major cause of morbidity and mortality, and this problem can be worsened with the current antimicrobial resistance crisis. To tackle this crisis more studies analyzing the causes, routes, and reservoirs where antimicrobial resistance can emerge and expand, together with new antimicrobials and strategies for fighting antimicrobial resistance are needed. In the current special issue of MicrobiologyOpen, a set of articles dealing with the multiple faces of antimicrobial resistance are presented. These articles provide new information for understanding and addressing this problem.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Pablo Laborda
- Centro Nacional de Biotecnología CSIC, Madrid, Spain
| | | | | | - Paula Blanco
- Centro Nacional de Biotecnología CSIC, Madrid, Spain
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Khademi M, Varasteh-Shams M, Nazarian-Firouzabadi F, Ismaili A. New Recombinant Antimicrobial Peptides Confer Resistance to Fungal Pathogens in Tobacco Plants. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2020; 11:1236. [PMID: 32903611 PMCID: PMC7438598 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.01236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2020] [Accepted: 07/28/2020] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides have been long known to confer resistance to plant pathogens. In this study, new recombinant peptides constructed from a dermaseptin B1 (DrsB1) peptide fused to a chitin-binding domain (CBD) from Avr4 protein, were used for Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of tobacco plants. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), semi-quantitative RT-PCR, and western blotting analysis demonstrated the incorporation and expression of transgenes in tobacco genome and transgenic plants, respectively. In vitro experiments with recombinant peptides extracted from transgenic plants demonstrated a significant (P<0.01) inhibitory effect on the growth and development of plant pathogens. The DrsB1-CBD recombinant peptide had the highest antifungal activity against fungal pathogens. The expression of the recombinant peptides greatly protected transgenic plants from Alternaria alternata, Alternaria solani, Fusarium oxysporum, and Fusarium solani fungi, in comparison to Pythium sp. and Pythium aphanidermatum. Expression of new recombinant peptides resulted in a delay in the colonization of fungi and appearance of fungal disease symptoms from 6 days to more than 7 weeks. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed that the structure of the fungal mycelia appeared segmented, cling together, and crushed following the antimicrobial activity of the recombinant peptides. Greenhouse bioassay analysis showed that transgenic plants were more resistant to Fusarium and Pythium infections as compared with the control plants. Due to the high antimicrobial activity of the recombinant peptides against plant pathogens and novelty of recombinant peptides, this report shows the feasibility of this approach to generate disease resistance transgenic plants.
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Khademi M, Nazarian‐Firouzabadi F, Ismaili A, Shirzadian Khorramabad R. Targeting microbial pathogens by expression of new recombinant dermaseptin peptides in tobacco. Microbiologyopen 2019; 8:e837. [PMID: 30912302 PMCID: PMC6854847 DOI: 10.1002/mbo3.837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2018] [Revised: 02/28/2019] [Accepted: 02/28/2019] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Dermaseptin B1 (DrsB1), an antimicrobial cationic 31 amino acid peptide, is produced by Phyllomedusa bicolor. In an attempt to enhance the antimicrobial efficacy of DrsB1, the DrsB1 encoding 93 bp sequence was either fused to the N or C terminus of sequence encoding chitin-binding domain (CBD) of Avr4 gene from Cladosporium fulvum. Tobacco leaf disk explants were inoculated with Agrobacterium rhizogenes harboring pGSA/CBD-DrsB1 and pGSA/DrsB1-CBD expression vectors to produce hairy roots (HRs). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was employed to screen putative transgenic tobacco lines. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR and western blotting analysis indicated that the expression of recombinant genes were significantly higher, and recombinant proteins were produced in transgenic HRs. The recombinant proteins were extracted from the tobacco HRs and used against Pectobacterium carotovorum, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Ralstonia solanacearum, and Xanthomonas campestris pathogenic bacteria and Alternaria alternata and Pythium sp. fungi. Two recombinant proteins had a statistically significant (p < 0.01) inhibitory effect on the growth and development of plant pathogens. The CBD-DrsB1 recombinant protein demonstrated a higher antibacterial effect, whereas the DrsB1-CBD recombinant protein demonstrated greater antifungal activity. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed that the structure of the fungal mycelia appeared segmented, adhered to each other, and crushed following the antimicrobial activity of the recombinant proteins. Due to the high antimicrobial activity of the recombinant proteins against plant pathogens, this strategy can be used to generate stable transgenic crop plants resistant to devastating plant pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mitra Khademi
- Agronomy and Plant Breeding Department, Faculty of AgricultureLorestan UniversityKhorramabadIran
| | | | - Ahmad Ismaili
- Agronomy and Plant Breeding Department, Faculty of AgricultureLorestan UniversityKhorramabadIran
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