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Antimicrobial Activity Developed by Scorpion Venoms and Its Peptide Component. Toxins (Basel) 2022; 14:toxins14110740. [PMID: 36355990 PMCID: PMC9693228 DOI: 10.3390/toxins14110740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2022] [Revised: 09/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/23/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Microbial infections represent a problem of great importance at the public health level, with a high rate of morbidity-mortality worldwide. However, treating the different diseases generated by microorganisms requires a gradual increase in acquired resistance when applying or using them against various antibiotic therapies. Resistance is caused by various molecular mechanisms of microorganisms, thus reducing their effectiveness. Consequently, there is a need to search for new opportunities through natural sources with antimicrobial activity. One alternative is using peptides present in different scorpion venoms, specifically from the Buthidae family. Different peptides with biological activity in microorganisms have been characterized as preventing their growth or inhibiting their replication. Therefore, they represent an alternative to be used in the design and development of new-generation antimicrobial drugs in different types of microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites. Essential aspects for its disclosure, as shown in this review, are the studies carried out on different types of peptides in scorpion venoms with activity against pathogenic microorganisms, highlighting their high therapeutic potential.
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Chemical synthesis, backbone cyclization and oxidative folding of cystine-knot peptides: promising scaffolds for applications in drug design. Molecules 2012; 17:12533-52. [PMID: 23095896 PMCID: PMC6268209 DOI: 10.3390/molecules171112533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2012] [Revised: 09/19/2012] [Accepted: 10/22/2012] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Cystine-knot peptides display exceptional structural, thermal, and biological stability. Their eponymous motif consists of six cysteine residues that form three disulfide bonds, resulting in a notably rigid structural core. Since they highly tolerate either rational or combinatorial changes in their primary structure, cystine knots are considered to be promising frameworks for the development of peptide-based pharmaceuticals. Despite their relatively small size (two to three dozens amino acid residues), the chemical synthesis route is challenging since it involves critical steps such as head-to-tail cyclization and oxidative folding towards the respective bioactive isomer. Herein we describe the topology of cystine-knot peptides, their synthetic availability and briefly discuss potential applications of engineered variants in diagnostics and therapy.
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Stricher F, Huang CC, Descours A, Duquesnoy S, Combes O, Decker JM, Kwon YD, Lusso P, Shaw GM, Vita C, Kwong PD, Martin L. Combinatorial optimization of a CD4-mimetic miniprotein and cocrystal structures with HIV-1 gp120 envelope glycoprotein. J Mol Biol 2008; 382:510-24. [PMID: 18619974 PMCID: PMC2625307 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2008.06.069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2008] [Revised: 06/19/2008] [Accepted: 06/23/2008] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Miniproteins provide a bridge between proteins and small molecules. Here we adapt methods from combinatorial chemistry to optimize CD4M33, a synthetic miniprotein into which we had previously transplanted the HIV-1 gp120 binding surface of the CD4 receptor. Iterative deconvolution of generated libraries produced CD4M47, a derivative of CD4M33 that had been optimized at four positions. Surface plasmon resonance demonstrated fourfold to sixfold improvement in CD4M47 affinity for gp120 to a level about threefold tighter than that of CD4 itself. Assessment of the neutralization properties of CD4M47 against a diverse range of isolates spanning from HIV-1 to SIVcpz showed that CD4M47 retained the extraordinary breadth of the parent CD4M33, but yielded only limited improvements in neutralization potencies. Crystal structures of CD4M47 and a phenylalanine variant ([Phe23]M47) were determined at resolutions of 2.4 and 2.6 A, in ternary complexes with HIV-1 gp120 and the 17b antibody. Analysis of these structures revealed a correlation between mimetic affinity for gp120 and overall mimetic-gp120 interactive surface. A correlation was also observed between CD4- and mimetic-induced gp120 structural similarity and CD4- and mimetic-induced gp120 affinity for the CCR5 coreceptor. Despite mimetic substitutions, including a glycine-to-(d)-proline change, the gp120 conformation induced by CD4M47 was as close or closer to the conformation induced by CD4 as the one induced by the parent CD4M33. Our results demonstrate the ability of combinatorial chemistry to optimize a disulfide-containing miniprotein, and of structural biology to decipher the resultant interplay between binding affinity, neutralization breadth, molecular mimicry, and induced affinity for CCR5.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Chih-chin Huang
- Vaccine Research Center, NIAID, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States
| | - Anne Descours
- CEA, iBiTecS, SIMOPRO, Gif-sur-Yvette, F-91191, France
| | | | | | - Julie M. Decker
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama 35294, United States
| | - Young Do Kwon
- Vaccine Research Center, NIAID, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States
| | - Paolo Lusso
- Unit of Human Virology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - George M. Shaw
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama 35294, United States
| | - Claudio Vita
- CEA, iBiTecS, SIMOPRO, Gif-sur-Yvette, F-91191, France, Deceased
| | - Peter D. Kwong
- Vaccine Research Center, NIAID, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States, to whom correspondence should be addressed: PDK: Tel: (+1)-301-594-8685; Fax: (+1)-301-480-2658; e-mail: , LM: Tel: (+33)-169087133; Fax: (+33)-169089071; e-mail:
| | - Loïc Martin
- CEA, iBiTecS, SIMOPRO, Gif-sur-Yvette, F-91191, France, to whom correspondence should be addressed: PDK: Tel: (+1)-301-594-8685; Fax: (+1)-301-480-2658; e-mail: , LM: Tel: (+33)-169087133; Fax: (+33)-169089071; e-mail:
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Fontenot D, Jones JK, Hossain MM, Nehete PN, Vela EM, Dwyer VA, Jagannadha Sastry K. Critical role of Arg59 in the high-affinity gp120-binding region of CD4 for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection. Virology 2007; 363:69-78. [PMID: 17320923 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2006.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2006] [Revised: 10/09/2006] [Accepted: 12/02/2006] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection is initiated by the binding of the viral envelope protein gp120 to the host cell CD4 receptor through a high-affinity interaction involving amino acids 39-60 within the CD4. We obtained evidence demonstrating functional importance of this region in CD4 for viral infectivity by showing that a synthetic peptide corresponding to this CD4 sequence exhibited competitive binding to gp120 and significantly reduced infection by diverse HIV-1 strains, including primary isolates. Treatment of HIV-1-infected cells with this CD4 peptide induced shedding of gp120 and exposure of the transmembrane protein gp41. Furthermore, we observed that deletion or substitution of arginine at position 59 (Arg(59)) within the CD4 peptide sequence abrogated its gp120-shedding property. These results indicate a critical role for Arg(59) in the CD4 for conformational changes in gp120 during the sequential process of entry and infection by HIV-1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle Fontenot
- Department of Immunology, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 7455 Fannin, Houston, TX 77054, USA
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Prabakaran P, Dimitrov AS, Fouts TR, Dimitrov DS. Structure and function of the HIV envelope glycoprotein as entry mediator, vaccine immunogen, and target for inhibitors. ADVANCES IN PHARMACOLOGY (SAN DIEGO, CALIF.) 2007; 55:33-97. [PMID: 17586312 PMCID: PMC7111665 DOI: 10.1016/s1054-3589(07)55002-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
This chapter discusses the advances of the envelope glycoprotein (Env) structure as related to the interactions of conserved Env structures with receptor molecules and antibodies with implications for the design of vaccine immunogens and inhibitors. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Env binds to cell surface–associated receptor (CD4) and coreceptor (CCR5 or CXCR4) by one of its two non-covalently associated subunits, gp120. The induced conformational changes activate the other subunit (gp41), which causes the fusion of the viral with the plasma cell membranes resulting in the delivery of the viral genome into the cell and the initiation of the infection cycle. As the only HIV protein exposed to the environment, the Env is also a major immunogen to which neutralizing antibodies are directed and a target that is relatively easy to access by inhibitors. A fundamental problem in the development of effective vaccines and inhibitors against HIV is the rapid generation of alterations at high levels of expression during long chronic infection and the resulting significant heterogeneity of the Env. The preservation of the Env function as an entry mediator and limitations on size and expression impose restrictions on its variability and lead to the existence of conserved structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ponraj Prabakaran
- Protein Interactions Group, CCRNP, CCR, NCI-Frederick, NIH Frederick, MD 21702, USA
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