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Ramos LFC, Rangel JHDO, Andrade GC, Lixa C, de Castilho LVA, Nogueira FCS, Pinheiro AS, Gomes FM, AnoBom CD, Almeida RV, de Oliveira DMP. Identification and recombinant expression of an antimicrobial peptide (cecropin B-like) from soybean pest Anticarsia gemmatalis. J Venom Anim Toxins Incl Trop Dis 2021; 27:e20200127. [PMID: 33796137 PMCID: PMC7970720 DOI: 10.1590/1678-9199-jvatitd-2020-0127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Insects can be found in numerous diverse environments, being exposed to pathogenic organisms like fungi and bacteria. Once these pathogens cross insect physical barriers, the innate immune system operates through cellular and humoral responses. Antimicrobial peptides are small molecules produced by immune signaling cascades that develop an important and generalist role in insect defenses against a variety of microorganisms. In the present work, a cecropin B-like peptide (AgCecropB) sequence was identified in the velvetbean caterpillar Anticarsia gemmatalis and cloned in a bacterial plasmid vector for further heterologous expression and antimicrobial tests. METHODS AgCecropB sequence (without the signal peptide) was cloned in the plasmid vector pET-M30-MBP and expressed in the Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) expression host. Expression was induced with IPTG and a recombinant peptide was purified using two affinity chromatography steps with Histrap column. The purified peptide was submitted to high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and structural analyses. Antimicrobial tests were performed using gram-positive (Bacillus thuringiensis) and gram-negative (Burkholderia kururiensis and E. coli) bacteria. RESULTS AgCecropB was expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) at 28°C with IPTG 0.5 mM. The recombinant peptide was purified and enriched after purification steps. HRMS confirmed AgCrecropB molecular mass (4.6 kDa) and circular dichroism assay showed α-helix structure in the presence of SDS. AgCrecropB inhibited almost 50% of gram-positive B. thuringiensis bacteria growth. CONCLUSIONS The first cecropin B-like peptide was described in A. gemmatalis and a recombinant peptide was expressed using a bacterial platform. Data confirmed tertiary structure as predicted for the cecropin peptide family. AgCecropB was capable to inhibit B. thuringiensis growth in vitro.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luís Felipe Costa Ramos
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Center of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - João Henrique de Oliveira Rangel
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Center of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Guilherme Caldas Andrade
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Center of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Carolina Lixa
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Center of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Livia Vieira Araujo de Castilho
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Center of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
- Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute of Graduate Studies and Research (COPPE), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Fábio César Sousa Nogueira
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Center of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Anderson S Pinheiro
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Center of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Fabio Mendonça Gomes
- Carlos Chagas Filho Institute of Biophysics, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Cristiane Dinis AnoBom
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Center of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Volcan Almeida
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Center of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Danielle Maria Perpétua de Oliveira
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Center of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
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Mahmoudi Z, Rasooli I, Jahangiri A, Darvish Alipour Astaneh S. Prevention of nosocomial Acinetobacter baumannii infections with a conserved immunogenic fimbrial protein. APMIS 2020; 128:476-483. [PMID: 32445596 DOI: 10.1111/apm.13061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2020] [Accepted: 03/18/2020] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Acinetobacter baumannii, one of the most life-threatening nosocomial drug-resistant pathogens, imposes high morbidity and mortality rates, thus highlighting immunization-based treatments or prevention measures. The selection of appropriate antigens can elicit protective immunity. The gene encoding a fimbrial protein introduced via reverse vaccinology was cloned, expressed and evaluated for immunogenicity in a murine model. Mice immunized with the recombinant protein were challenged with A. baumannii ATCC 19606. Adherence to A549 cell line of specific anti-sera treated A. baumannii was also assessed. Passive immunity was evaluated in a murine pneumonia model. Indirect ELISA showed a high specific antibody titre. Adherence of A. baumannii to A549 cell line decreased by 40% after incubation with 1:250 dilution of specific anti-sera. All the actively immunized mice survived. Bacterial load in the spleen and liver of the immunized mice was 3-fold lower than those of the control. The number of bacteria in the lungs of passively immunized mice was about 6-fold lower than the control mice. The fimbrial protein could be considered as a promising protective immunogen against A. baumannii.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Iraj Rasooli
- Department of Biology, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.,Molecular Microbiology Research Center, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Abolfazl Jahangiri
- Applied Microbiology Research Center, Systems Biology and Poisonings Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
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Pawar AD, Verma D, Sankeshi V, Raman R, Sharma Y. Strategizing for the purification of a multiple Big domain-containing protein in native conformation is worth it! Protein Expr Purif 2017; 145:25-31. [PMID: 29287899 DOI: 10.1016/j.pep.2017.12.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2017] [Revised: 12/15/2017] [Accepted: 12/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The reliability and accuracy of conformational or functional studies of any novel multidomain protein rely on the quality of protein. The bottleneck in structural studies with the complete Big_2 domain containing proteins like LigA, LigB or MpIBP is usually their large molecular size owing to their multidomain (>10-12 domains) architectures. Interestingly, a soil bacterium Paenarthrobacter aurescens TC1, harbours a gene that encodes a protein comprising of four predicted Big_2 domains. We report here the expression and purification of this novel, multiple Big_2 domains containing protein, Arig of P. aurescens TC1. During overexpression, recombinant Arig formed inclusion bodies and hence was purified by on-column refolding. The refolded Arig revealed a β-sheet conformation and a well-resolved near-UV CD spectra but did not exhibit a well-dispersed 2D [1H-15N]-HSQC NMR spectrum, as expected for a well-folded β-sheet native conformation. We, therefore, further optimized Arig overexpression in the soluble fraction by including osmolytes. CD spectroscopic and 2D [1H-15N]-HSQC analyses consolidate that Arig purified alternatively has a well-folded native conformation. While we describe different strategies for purification of Arig, we also present the spectral properties of this novel all-β-sheet protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asmita D Pawar
- CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007, India.
| | - Deepshikha Verma
- Department of Chemical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, 1, Homi Bhabha Road, Colaba, Mumbai, 400005, India
| | - Venu Sankeshi
- CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007, India
| | - Rajeev Raman
- CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007, India
| | - Yogendra Sharma
- CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), New Delhi, India
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