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Fink A, Ben Hur D, Wani NA, Cohen H, Segev-Zarko LA, Arnusch CJ, Shai Y. Development of Nontoxic Peptides for Lipopolysaccharide Neutralization and Sepsis Treatment. ACS Pharmacol Transl Sci 2024; 7:1795-1806. [PMID: 38898940 PMCID: PMC11184611 DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.4c00033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2024] [Revised: 04/22/2024] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
Host defense peptides (HDPs), also named antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), are increasingly being recognized for serving multiple functions in protecting the host from infection and disease. Previous studies have shown that various HDPs can also neutralize lipopolysaccharide (LPS, endotoxin), as well as lipoteichoic acid (LTA), inducing macrophage activation. However, antimicrobial activity is usually accompanied by systemic toxicity which makes it difficult to use HDPs as antiendotoxin agents. Here we report that key parameters can uncouple these two functions yielding nontoxic peptides with potent LPS and LTA neutralization activities in vitro and in animal models. The data reveal that peptide length, the number, and the placement of positive charges are important parameters involved in LPS neutralization. Crucially, the peptide exhibited a separation between its membrane-disrupting and antimicrobial properties, effectively decoupling them from its ability to neutralize LPS. This essential distinction prevented systemic toxicity and led to the peptide's complete rescue of mice suffering from severe septic shock in two distinct models. Strong binding to LPS, changes in structure, and oligomerization state upon LPS binding were important factors that determined the activity of the peptides. In the face of the increasing threat of septic shock worldwide, it is crucial to grasp how we can neutralize harmful substances like LPS. This knowledge is vital for creating nontoxic treatments for sepsis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Avner Fink
- Department
of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute
of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
- MilliporeSigma
Life Science, Kiryat
Hamada 13, 9777613 Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Daniel Ben Hur
- Department
of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute
of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
| | - Naiem Ahmad Wani
- Department
of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute
of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
| | - Hadar Cohen
- Department
of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute
of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
| | - Li-Av Segev-Zarko
- Department
of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute
of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
| | - Christopher J. Arnusch
- Department
of Desalination and Water Treatment, Zuckerberg Institute for Water
Research, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boqer Campus 8499000, Israel
| | - Yechiel Shai
- Department
of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute
of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
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2
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Chang DH, Lee MR, Wang N, Lynn DM, Palecek SP. Establishing Quantifiable Guidelines for Antimicrobial α/β-Peptide Design: A Partial Least-Squares Approach to Improve Antimicrobial Activity and Reduce Mammalian Cell Toxicity. ACS Infect Dis 2023; 9:2632-2651. [PMID: 38014670 PMCID: PMC10807133 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.3c00468] [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] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are promising candidates to combat pathogens that are resistant to conventional antimicrobial drugs because they operate through mechanisms that involve membrane disruption. However, the use of AMPs in clinical settings has been limited, at least in part, by their susceptibility to proteolytic degradation and their lack of selectivity toward pathogenic microbes vs mammalian cells. We recently reported on the design of α- and β-peptide oligomers structurally templated upon the naturally occurring α-helical AMP aurein 1.2. These α/β-peptide oligomers are more proteolytically stable than aurein 1.2 and have several other attributes that render them attractive as alternatives to conventional AMPs. This study describes the influence of peptide physicochemical properties on the broad-spectrum activity of aurein 1.2-based α/β-peptide mimics against nine bacterial, fungal, and mammalian cell lines. We used a partial least-squares regression (PLSR)-supervised machine learning model to quantify and visualize relationships between experimentally determined physicochemical properties (e.g., hydrophobicity, charge, and helicity) and experimentally measured cell-type-specific activities of 21 peptides in a 149-member α/β-peptide library. Using this approach, we identified several peptides that were predicted to exhibit enhanced broad-spectrum selectivity, a measure that evaluates antimicrobial activity relative to mammalian cell toxicity compared to aurein 1.2. Experimental validation demonstrated high model predictive performance, and characterization of compounds with the highest broad-spectrum selectivity revealed peptide hydrophobicity, helicity, and helical rigidity to be strong predictors of broad-spectrum selectivity. The most selective peptide identified from the model prediction has more than a 13-fold improvement in broad-spectrum selectivity than that of aurein 1.2, demonstrating the ability of using PLSR models to identify quantitative structure-function relationships for nonstandard amino acid-containing peptides. Overall, this work establishes quantifiable guidelines for the rational design of helical antimicrobial α/β-peptides and identifies promising new α/β-peptides with significantly reduced mammalian toxicities and improved antifungal and antibacterial activities relative to aurein 1.2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas H. Chang
- Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1415 Engineering Dr., Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Myung-Ryul Lee
- Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1415 Engineering Dr., Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Nathan Wang
- Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1415 Engineering Dr., Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - David M. Lynn
- Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1415 Engineering Dr., Madison, WI 53706, USA
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1101 University Ave., Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Sean P. Palecek
- Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1415 Engineering Dr., Madison, WI 53706, USA
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3
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Xing H, Loya-Perez V, Franzen J, Denton PW, Conda-Sheridan M, Rodrigues de Almeida N. Designing peptide amphiphiles as novel antibacterials and antibiotic adjuvants against gram-negative bacteria. Bioorg Med Chem 2023; 94:117481. [PMID: 37776750 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2023.117481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2023] [Revised: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/02/2023]
Abstract
Gram-negative strains are intrinsically resistant to most antibiotics due to the robust and impermeable characteristic of their outer membrane. Self-assembling cationic peptide amphiphiles (PAs) have the ability to disrupt bacteria membranes, constituting an excellent antibacterial alternative to small molecule drugs that can be used alone or as antibiotic adjuvants to overcome bacteria resistance. PA1 (C16KHKHK), self-assembled into micelles, which exhibited low antibacterial activity against all strains tested, and showed strong synergistic antibacterial activity in combination with Vancomycin with a Fractional Inhibitory Concentration index (FICi) of 0.15 against E. coli. The molecules, PA2 (C16KRKR) and PA3 (C16AAAKRKR), also self-assembled into micelles, displayed a broad-spectrum antibacterial activity against all strains tested, and low susceptibility to resistance development over 21 days. Finally, PA1, PA 2 and PA3 displayed low cytotoxicity against mammalian cells, and PA2 showed a potent antibacterial activity and low toxicity in preliminary in vivo models using G. mellonella. The results show that PAs are a great platform for the future development of effective antibiotics to slow down the antibiotic resistance and can act as antibiotic adjuvants with synergistic mechanism of action, which can be repurposed for use with existing antibiotics commonly used to treat gram-positive bacteria to treat infections caused by gram-negative bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huihua Xing
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, United States
| | - Vanessa Loya-Perez
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182, United States
| | - Joshua Franzen
- Department of Biology, University of Nebraska Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182, United States
| | - Paul W Denton
- Department of Biology, University of Nebraska Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182, United States
| | - Martin Conda-Sheridan
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, United States
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4
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Liu C, Henning-Knechtel A, Österlund N, Wu J, Wang G, Gräslund RAO, Kirmizialtin S, Luo J. Oligomer Dynamics of LL-37 Truncated Fragments Probed by α-Hemolysin Pore and Molecular Simulations. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2023; 19:e2206232. [PMID: 37170734 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202206232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Revised: 04/01/2023] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Oligomerization of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is critical in their effects on pathogens. LL-37 and its truncated fragments are widely investigated regarding their structures, antimicrobial activities, and application, such as developing new antibiotics. Due to the small size and weak intermolecular interactions of LL-37 fragments, it is still elusive to establish the relationship between oligomeric states and antimicrobial activities. Here, an α-hemolysin nanopore, mass spectrometry (MS), and molecular dynamic (MD) simulations are used to characterize the oligomeric states of two LL-37 fragments. Nanopore studies provide evidence of trapping events related to the oligomer formation and provide further details on their stabilities, which are confirmed by MS and MD simulations. Furthermore, simulation results reveal the molecular basis of oligomer dynamics and states of LL-37 fragments. This work provides unique insights into the relationship between the oligomer dynamics of AMPs and their antimicrobial activities at the single-molecule level. The study demonstrates how integrating methods allows deciphering single molecule level understanding from nanopore sensing approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chang Liu
- Department of Biology and Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, 5232, Switzerland
| | - Anja Henning-Knechtel
- Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, 129188, UAE
| | - Nicklas Österlund
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 106 91, Sweden
| | - Jinming Wu
- Department of Biology and Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, 5232, Switzerland
| | - Guangshun Wang
- Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 985900 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5900, USA
| | | | - Serdal Kirmizialtin
- Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, 129188, UAE
| | - Jinghui Luo
- Department of Biology and Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, 5232, Switzerland
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5
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Abstract
An understanding of how the amino acid sequence affects the interaction of peptides with lipid membranes remains mostly unknown. This type of knowledge is required to rationalize membrane-induced toxicity of amyloid peptides and to design peptides that can interact with lipid bilayers. Here, we perform a systematic study of how variations in the sequence of the amphipathic Ac-(FKFE)2-NH2 peptide affect its interaction with zwitterionic lipid bilayers using extensive all-atom molecular dynamics simulations in explicit solvent. Our results show that peptides with a net positive charge bind more frequently to the lipid bilayer than neutral or negatively charged sequences. Moreover, neutral amphipathic peptides made with the same numbers of phenylalanine (F), lysine (K), and glutamic (E) amino acids at different positions in the sequence differ significantly in their frequency of binding to the membrane. We find that peptides bind with a higher frequency to the membrane if their positive lysine side chains are more exposed to the solvent, which occurs if they are located at the extremity (as opposed to the middle) of the sequence. Non-polar residues play an important role in accounting for the adsorption of peptides onto the membrane. In particular, peptides made with less hydrophobic non-polar residues (e.g., valine and alanine) are significantly less adsorbed to the membrane compared to peptides made with phenylalanine. We also find that sequences where phenylalanine residues are located at the extremities of the peptide have a higher tendency to be adsorbed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanxing Yang
- Department of Physics, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102-1982, United States
| | - Cristiano L Dias
- Department of Physics, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102-1982, United States
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Maleš M, Zoranić L. Simulation Study of the Effect of Antimicrobial Peptide Associations on the Mechanism of Action with Bacterial and Eukaryotic Membranes. MEMBRANES 2022; 12:891. [PMID: 36135911 PMCID: PMC9502835 DOI: 10.3390/membranes12090891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Revised: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 09/09/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) can be directed to specific membranes based on differences in lipid composition. In this study, we performed atomistic and coarse-grained simulations of different numbers of the designed AMP adepantin-1 with a eukaryotic membrane, cytoplasmic Gram-positive and Gram-negative membranes, and an outer Gram-negative membrane. At the core of adepantin-1's behavior is its amphipathic α-helical structure, which was implemented in its design. The amphipathic structure promotes rapid self-association of peptide in water or upon binding to bacterial membranes. Aggregates initially make contact with the membrane via positively charged residues, but with insertion, the hydrophobic residues are exposed to the membrane's hydrophobic core. This adaptation alters the aggregate's stability, causing the peptides to diffuse in the polar region of the membrane, mostly remaining as a single peptide or pairing up to form an antiparallel dimer. Thus, the aggregate's proposed role is to aid in positioning the peptide into a favorable conformation for insertion. Simulations revealed the molecular basics of adepantin-1 binding to various membranes, and highlighted peptide aggregation as an important factor. These findings contribute to the development of novel anti-infective agents to combat the rapidly growing problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matko Maleš
- Faculty of Maritime Studies, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
| | - Larisa Zoranić
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
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7
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Injectable and self-healing double network polysaccharide hydrogel as a minimally-invasive delivery platform. Carbohydr Polym 2022; 291:119585. [DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.119585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2022] [Revised: 04/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2022] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
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Häring M, Amann V, Kissmann AK, Herberger T, Synatschke C, Kirsch-Pietz N, Perez-Erviti JA, Otero-Gonzalez AJ, Morales-Vicente F, Andersson J, Weil T, Stenger S, Rodríguez A, Ständker L, Rosenau F. Combination of Six Individual Derivatives of the Pom-1 Antibiofilm Peptide Doubles Their Efficacy against Invasive and Multi-Resistant Clinical Isolates of the Pathogenic Yeast Candida albicans. Pharmaceutics 2022; 14:pharmaceutics14071332. [PMID: 35890228 PMCID: PMC9319270 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14071332] [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: 05/17/2022] [Revised: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
In previous studies, derivatives of the peptide Pom-1, which was originally extracted from the freshwater mollusk Pomacea poeyana, showed an exceptional ability to specifically inhibit biofilm formation of the laboratory strain ATCC 90028 as a model strain of the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans. In follow-up, here, we demonstrate that the derivatives Pom-1A to Pom-1F are also active against biofilms of invasive clinical C. albicans isolates, including strains resistant against fluconazole and/or amphotericin B. However, efficacy varied strongly between the isolates, as indicated by large deviations in the experiments. This lack of robustness could be efficiently bypassed by using mixtures of all peptides. These mixed peptide preparations were active against biofilm formation of all the isolates with uniform efficacies, and the total peptide concentration could be halved compared to the original MIC of the individual peptides (2.5 µg/mL). Moreover, mixing the individual peptides restored the antifungal effect of fluconazole against fluconazole-resistant isolates even at 50% of the standard therapeutic concentration. Without having elucidated the reason for these synergistic effects of the peptides yet, both the gain of efficacy and the considerable increase in efficiency by combining the peptides indicate that Pom-1 and its derivatives in suitable formulations may play an important role as new antibiofilm antimycotics in the fight against invasive clinical infections with (multi-) resistant C. albicans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle Häring
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89081 Ulm, Germany; (M.H.); (V.A.)
| | - Valerie Amann
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89081 Ulm, Germany; (M.H.); (V.A.)
| | - Ann-Kathrin Kissmann
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89081 Ulm, Germany; (M.H.); (V.A.)
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research Mainz, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany; (T.H.); (C.S.); (N.K.-P.); (T.W.)
- Correspondence: (A.-K.K.); (F.R.)
| | - Tilmann Herberger
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research Mainz, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany; (T.H.); (C.S.); (N.K.-P.); (T.W.)
| | - Christopher Synatschke
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research Mainz, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany; (T.H.); (C.S.); (N.K.-P.); (T.W.)
| | - Nicole Kirsch-Pietz
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research Mainz, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany; (T.H.); (C.S.); (N.K.-P.); (T.W.)
| | - Julio A. Perez-Erviti
- Center for Protein Studies, Faculty of Biology, University of Havana, 25 Street, Havana 10400, Cuba; (J.A.P.-E.); (A.J.O.-G.)
| | - Anselmo J. Otero-Gonzalez
- Center for Protein Studies, Faculty of Biology, University of Havana, 25 Street, Havana 10400, Cuba; (J.A.P.-E.); (A.J.O.-G.)
| | - Fidel Morales-Vicente
- Synthetic Peptides Group, Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Havana 10600, Cuba;
| | - Jakob Andersson
- AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Giefinggasse 4, 1210 Vienna, Austria;
| | - Tanja Weil
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research Mainz, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany; (T.H.); (C.S.); (N.K.-P.); (T.W.)
| | - Steffen Stenger
- Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University Hospital Ulm, 89081 Ulm, Germany;
| | - Armando Rodríguez
- Core Facility for Functional Peptidomics, Ulm Peptide Pharmaceuticals (U-PEP), Faculty of Medicine, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany; (A.R.); (L.S.)
- Core Unit of Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Faculty of Medicine, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - Ludger Ständker
- Core Facility for Functional Peptidomics, Ulm Peptide Pharmaceuticals (U-PEP), Faculty of Medicine, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany; (A.R.); (L.S.)
| | - Frank Rosenau
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89081 Ulm, Germany; (M.H.); (V.A.)
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research Mainz, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany; (T.H.); (C.S.); (N.K.-P.); (T.W.)
- Correspondence: (A.-K.K.); (F.R.)
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Teixeira MA, Antunes JC, Seabra CL, Fertuzinhos A, Tohidi SD, Reis S, Amorim MTP, Ferreira DP, Felgueiras HP. Antibacterial and hemostatic capacities of cellulose nanocrystalline-reinforced poly(vinyl alcohol) electrospun mats doped with Tiger 17 and pexiganan peptides for prospective wound healing applications. BIOMATERIALS ADVANCES 2022; 137:212830. [PMID: 35929263 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2022.212830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Revised: 04/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Infection is a major issue in chronic wound care. Different dressings have been developed to prevent microbial propagation, but an effective, all-in-one (cytocompatible, antimicrobial and promoter of healing) solution is still to be uncovered. In this research, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibrous mats reinforced with cellulose nanocrystal (CNC), at 10 and 20% v/v ratios, were produced by electrospinning, crosslinked with glutaraldehyde vapor and doped with specialized peptides. Crosslinking increased the mats' fiber diameters but maintained their bead-free morphology. Miscibility between polymers was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and thermal evaluations. Despite the incorporation of CNC having reduced the mats' mechanical performance, it improved the mats' surface energy and its structural stability over time. Pexiganan with an extra cysteine group was functionalized onto the mats via hydroxyl- polyethylene glycol 2-maleimide, while Tiger 17 was physisorbed to preserve its cyclic conformation. Antimicrobial assessments demonstrated the peptide-doped mat's effectiveness against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa; pexiganan contributed mostly for such outcome. Tiger 17 showed excellent capacity in accelerating clotting. Cytocompatibility evaluations attested to these mats' safety. C90/10 PVA/CNC mats were deemed the most effective from the tested group and, thus, a potentially effective option for chronic wound treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta A Teixeira
- Centre for Textile Science and Technology (2C2T), Department of Textile Engineering, University of Minho, Campus of Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
| | - Joana C Antunes
- Centre for Textile Science and Technology (2C2T), Department of Textile Engineering, University of Minho, Campus of Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
| | - Catarina L Seabra
- Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry (LAQV), Network of Chemistry and Technology (REQUIMTE), Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
| | - Aureliano Fertuzinhos
- Center for MicroElectroMechanics Systems (CMEMS), UMinho, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minho, Campus of Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
| | - Shafagh D Tohidi
- Digital Transformation Colab (DTX), Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minho, Campus of Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
| | - Salette Reis
- Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry (LAQV), Network of Chemistry and Technology (REQUIMTE), Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
| | - M Teresa P Amorim
- Centre for Textile Science and Technology (2C2T), Department of Textile Engineering, University of Minho, Campus of Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
| | - Diana P Ferreira
- Centre for Textile Science and Technology (2C2T), Department of Textile Engineering, University of Minho, Campus of Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
| | - Helena P Felgueiras
- Centre for Textile Science and Technology (2C2T), Department of Textile Engineering, University of Minho, Campus of Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal.
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10
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Tavares TD, Antunes JC, Padrão J, Ribeiro AI, Zille A, Amorim MTP, Ferreira F, Felgueiras HP. Activity of Specialized Biomolecules against Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria. Antibiotics (Basel) 2020; 9:E314. [PMID: 32526972 PMCID: PMC7344598 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics9060314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2020] [Revised: 06/01/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The increased resistance of bacteria against conventional pharmaceutical solutions, the antibiotics, has raised serious health concerns. This has stimulated interest in the development of bio-based therapeutics with limited resistance, namely, essential oils (EOs) or antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). This study envisaged the evaluation of the antimicrobial efficacy of selected biomolecules, namely LL37, pexiganan, tea tree oil (TTO), cinnamon leaf oil (CLO) and niaouli oil (NO), against four bacteria commonly associated to nosocomial infections: Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The antibiotic vancomycin and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were used as control compounds for comparison purposes. The biomolecules were initially screened for their antibacterial efficacy using the agar-diffusion test, followed by the determination of minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs), kill-time kinetics and the evaluation of the cell morphology upon 24 h exposure. All agents were effective against the selected bacteria. Interestingly, the AgNPs required a higher concentration (4000-1250 µg/mL) to induce the same effects as the AMPs (500-7.8 µg/mL) or EOs (365.2-19.7 µg/mL). Pexiganan and CLO were the most effective biomolecules, requiring lower concentrations to kill both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (62.5-7.8 µg/mL and 39.3-19.7 µg/mL, respectively), within a short period of time (averaging 2 h 15 min for all bacteria). Most biomolecules apparently disrupted the bacteria membrane stability due to the observed cell morphology deformation and by effecting on the intracellular space. AMPs were observed to induce morphological deformations and cellular content release, while EOs were seen to split and completely envelope bacteria. Data unraveled more of the potential of these new biomolecules as replacements for the conventional antibiotics and allowed us to take a step forward in the understanding of their mechanisms of action against infection-related bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Helena P. Felgueiras
- Centre for Textile Science and Technology (2C2T), Department of Textile Engineering, University of Minho, Campus of Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal; (T.D.T.); (J.C.A.); (J.P.); (A.I.R.); (A.Z.); (M.T.P.A.); (F.F.)
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11
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12
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Yacoub T, Rima M, Karam M, Sabatier JM, Fajloun Z. Antimicrobials from Venomous Animals: An Overview. Molecules 2020; 25:molecules25102402. [PMID: 32455792 PMCID: PMC7287856 DOI: 10.3390/molecules25102402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2020] [Revised: 05/16/2020] [Accepted: 05/19/2020] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The inappropriate or excessive use of antimicrobial agents caused an emerging public health problem due to the resulting resistance developed by microbes. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop effective antimicrobial strategies relying on natural agents with different mechanisms of action. Nature has been known to offer many bioactive compounds, in the form of animal venoms, algae, and plant extracts that were used for decades in traditional medicine. Animal venoms and secretions have been deeply studied for their wealth in pharmaceutically promising molecules. As such, they were reported to exhibit many biological activities of interest, such as antibacterial, antiviral, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory activities. In this review, we summarize recent findings on the antimicrobial activities of crude animal venoms/secretions, and describe the peptides that are responsible of these activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tania Yacoub
- Department of Biology, University of Balamand, Kalhat, Al-Kurah, P.O. box 100 Tripoli, Lebanon; (T.Y.); (M.K.)
| | - Mohamad Rima
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), INSERM U964, CNRS U7104, Université de Strasbourg, 67400 Illkirch, France;
| | - Marc Karam
- Department of Biology, University of Balamand, Kalhat, Al-Kurah, P.O. box 100 Tripoli, Lebanon; (T.Y.); (M.K.)
| | - Jean-Marc Sabatier
- Université Aix-Marseille, Institut de NeuroPhysiopathologie, UMR 7051, Faculté de Médecine Secteur Nord, 51, Boulevard Pierre Dramard-CS80011, 13344-Marseille CEDEX 15, France
- Correspondence: (J.-M.S.); (Z.F.)
| | - Ziad Fajloun
- Faculty of Sciences 3, Lebanese University, Michel Slayman Tripoli Campus, Ras Maska 1352, Lebanon
- Laboratory of Applied Biotechnology (LBA3B), Azm Center for Research in Biotechnology and its Applications, Doctoral School for Sciences and Technology, Lebanese University, El Mittein Street, 1300 Tripoli, Lebanon
- Correspondence: (J.-M.S.); (Z.F.)
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13
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Frederiksen N, Hansen PR, Björkling F, Franzyk H. Peptide/Peptoid Hybrid Oligomers: The Influence of Hydrophobicity and Relative Side-Chain Length on Antibacterial Activity and Cell Selectivity. Molecules 2019; 24:E4429. [PMID: 31817108 PMCID: PMC6943742 DOI: 10.3390/molecules24244429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2019] [Revised: 11/20/2019] [Accepted: 11/26/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous optimisation studies of peptide/peptoid hybrids typically comprise comparison of structurally related analogues displaying different oligomer length and diverse side chains. The present work concerns a systematically constructed series of 16 closely related 12-mer oligomers with an alternating cationic/hydrophobic design, representing a wide range of hydrophobicity and differences in relative side-chain lengths. The aim was to explore and rationalise the structure-activity relationships within a subclass of oligomers displaying variation of three structural features: (i) cationic side-chain length, (ii) hydrophobic side-chain length, and (iii) type of residue that is of a flexible peptoid nature. Increased side-chain length of cationic residues led to reduced hydrophobicity till the side chains became more extended than the aromatic/hydrophobic side chains, at which point hydrophobicity increased slightly. Evaluation of antibacterial activity revealed that analogues with lowest hydrophobicity exhibited reduced activity against E. coli, while oligomers with the shortest cationic side chains were most potent against P. aeruginosa. Thus, membrane-disruptive interaction with P. aeruginosa appears to be promoted by a hydrophobic surface of the oligomers (comprised of the aromatic groups shielding the cationic side chains). Peptidomimetics with short cationic side chains exhibit increased hemolytic properties as well as give rise to decreased HepG2 (hepatoblastoma G2 cell line) cell viability. An optimal hydrophobicity window could be defined by a threshold of minimal hydrophobicity conferring activity toward E. coli and a threshold for maximal hydrophobicity, beyond which cell selectivity was lost.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Henrik Franzyk
- Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Jagtvej 162, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; (N.F.); (P.R.H.); (F.B.)
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Rončević T, Puizina J, Tossi A. Antimicrobial Peptides as Anti-Infective Agents in Pre-Post-Antibiotic Era? Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:E5713. [PMID: 31739573 PMCID: PMC6887943 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20225713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2019] [Revised: 11/08/2019] [Accepted: 11/11/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Resistance to antibiotics is one of the main current threats to human health and every year multi-drug resistant bacteria are infecting millions of people worldwide, with many dying as a result. Ever since their discovery, some 40 years ago, the antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) of innate defense have been hailed as a potential alternative to conventional antibiotics due to their relatively low potential to elicit resistance. Despite continued effort by both academia and start-ups, currently there are still no antibiotics based on AMPs in use. In this study, we discuss what we know and what we do not know about these agents, and what we need to know to successfully translate discovery to application. Understanding the complex mechanics of action of these peptides is the main prerequisite for identifying and/or designing or redesigning novel molecules with potent biological activity. However, other aspects also need to be well elucidated, i.e., the (bio)synthetic processes, physiological and pathological contexts of their activity, and a quantitative understanding of how physico-chemical properties affect activity. Research groups worldwide are using biological, biophysical, and algorithmic techniques to develop models aimed at designing molecules with the necessary blend of antimicrobial potency and low toxicity. Shedding light on some open questions may contribute toward improving this process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomislav Rončević
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia;
- Laboratory for Aquaculture, Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, 21000 Split, Croatia
| | - Jasna Puizina
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia;
| | - Alessandro Tossi
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy;
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15
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Tanishiki N, Yano Y, Matsuzaki K. Endowment of pH Responsivity to Anticancer Peptides by Introducing 2,3-Diaminopropionic Acid Residues. Chembiochem 2019; 20:2109-2117. [PMID: 31161686 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201900226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2019] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Endowment of pH responsivity to anticancer peptides is a promising approach to achieve better selectivity to cancer tissues. In this research, a template peptide was designed based on magainin 2, an antimicrobial peptide with anticancer activity, and a series of peptides were designed by replacing different numbers of lysine with the unnatural amino acid, 2,3diaminopropionic acid (Dap), which has a positive charge at weakly acidic pH in cancer tissues, but is neutral at physiological pH 7.4. These Dap-containing peptides are expected to interact more strongly with tumor cells than with normal cells because 1) weakly acidic conditions form in tumors, and 2) the membrane of tumor cells is more anionic than that of normal cells. Although all examined peptides showed potent cytotoxicities to multidrug-resistant cancer cells at a weakly acidic pH (ED50 ≈5 μm), the toxicity decreased with an increase in the number of Dap at pH 7.4 (8 Dap residues resulted in ED50 ≈60 μm). Furthermore, the introduction of Dap reduced cytotoxicity against normal cells. Thus, Dap led to significantly improved cancer targeting due to a pH-dependent charge shift. Fluorescence imaging and model membrane experiments supported this charge-shift model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naoto Tanishiki
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University, 46-29 Yoshida-Shimo-Adachi-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan
| | - Yoshiaki Yano
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University, 46-29 Yoshida-Shimo-Adachi-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan
| | - Katsumi Matsuzaki
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University, 46-29 Yoshida-Shimo-Adachi-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan
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16
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Mant CT, Jiang Z, Gera L, Davis T, Hodges RS. Design of Novel Amphipathic α-Helical Antimicrobial Peptides with No Toxicity as Therapeutics against the Antibiotic-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacterial Pathogen, Acinetobacter Baumannii. JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY AND DRUG DESIGN 2019; 2:114. [PMID: 34377965 PMCID: PMC8351594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
We designed de novo and synthesized two series of five 26-residue amphipathic α-helical cationic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with five or six positively charged residues (D-Lys, L-Dab (2,4-diaminobutyric acid) or L-Dap (2,3-diaminopropionic acid)) on the polar face where all other residues are in the D-conformation. Hemolytic activity against human red blood cells was determined using the most stringent conditions for the hemolysis assay, 18h at 37°C, 1% human erythrocytes and peptide concentrations up to 1000 μg/mL (~380 μM). Antimicrobial activity was determined against 7 Acinetobacter baumannii strains, resistant to polymyxin B and colistin (antibiotics of last resort) to show the effect of positively charged residues in two different locations on the polar face (positions 3, 7, 11, 18, 22 and 26 versus positions 3, 7, 14, 15, 22 and 26). All 10 peptides had two D-Lys residues in the center of the non-polar face as "specificity determinants" at positions 13 and 16 which provide specificity for prokaryotic cells over eukaryotic cells. Specificity determinants also maintain excellent antimicrobial activity in the presence of human sera. This study shows that the location and type of positively charged residue (Dab and Dap) on the polar face are critical to obtain the best therapeutic indices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin T Mant
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado, School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA
- AMP Discovery LLC, Aurora, Colorado, USA
| | - Ziqing Jiang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado, School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA
| | - Lajos Gera
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado, School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA
- AMP Discovery LLC, Aurora, Colorado, USA
| | - Tim Davis
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado, School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA
| | - Robert S Hodges
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado, School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA
- AMP Discovery LLC, Aurora, Colorado, USA
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17
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Mant CT, Jiang Z, Gera L, Davis T, Nelson KL, Bevers S, Hodges RS. De Novo Designed Amphipathic α-Helical Antimicrobial Peptides Incorporating Dab and Dap Residues on the Polar Face To Treat the Gram-Negative Pathogen, Acinetobacter baumannii. J Med Chem 2019; 62:3354-3366. [PMID: 30848594 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b01785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
We have designed de novo and synthesized ten 26-residue D-conformation amphipathic α-helical cationic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), seven with "specificity determinants", which provide specificity for prokaryotic cells over eukaryotic cells. The ten AMPs contain five or six positively charged residues (d-Arg, d-Lys, d-Orn, l-Dab, or l-Dap) on the polar face to understand their role in hemolytic activity against human red blood cells and antimicrobial activity against seven Acinetobacter baumannii strains, resistant to polymyxin B and colistin, and 20 A. baumannii worldwide isolates from 2016 and 2017 with antibiotic resistance to 18 different antibiotics. AMPs with specificity determinants and with l-Dab and l-Dap residues on the polar face have essentially no hemolytic activity at 1000 μg/mL (380 μM), showing for the first time the importance of these unusual amino acid residues in solving long-standing hemolysis issues of AMPs. Specificity determinants maintained excellent antimicrobial activity in the presence of human sera.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin T Mant
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine , University of Colorado , Anschutz Medical Campus , Aurora , Colorado 80045 , United States
| | - Ziqing Jiang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine , University of Colorado , Anschutz Medical Campus , Aurora , Colorado 80045 , United States
| | - Lajos Gera
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine , University of Colorado , Anschutz Medical Campus , Aurora , Colorado 80045 , United States
| | - Tim Davis
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine , University of Colorado , Anschutz Medical Campus , Aurora , Colorado 80045 , United States
| | | | - Shaun Bevers
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine , University of Colorado , Anschutz Medical Campus , Aurora , Colorado 80045 , United States
| | - Robert S Hodges
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine , University of Colorado , Anschutz Medical Campus , Aurora , Colorado 80045 , United States
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18
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Selectivity of Antimicrobial Peptides: A Complex Interplay of Multiple Equilibria. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2019; 1117:175-214. [DOI: 10.1007/978-981-13-3588-4_11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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19
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Brown JS, Mohamed ZJ, Artim CM, Thornlow DN, Hassler JF, Rigoglioso VP, Daniel S, Alabi CA. Antibacterial isoamphipathic oligomers highlight the importance of multimeric lipid aggregation for antibacterial potency. Commun Biol 2018; 1:220. [PMID: 30534612 PMCID: PMC6286309 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-018-0230-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2018] [Accepted: 11/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Cationic charge and hydrophobicity have long been understood to drive the potency and selectivity of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). However, these properties alone struggle to guide broad success in vivo, where AMPs must differentiate bacterial and mammalian cells, while avoiding complex barriers. New parameters describing the biophysical processes of membrane disruption could provide new opportunities for antimicrobial optimization. In this work, we utilize oligothioetheramides (oligoTEAs) to explore the membrane-targeting mechanism of oligomers, which have the same cationic charge and hydrophobicity, yet show a unique ~ 10-fold difference in antibacterial potency. Solution-phase characterization reveals little difference in structure and dynamics. However, fluorescence microscopy of oligomer-treated Staphylococcus aureus mimetic membranes shows multimeric lipid aggregation that correlates with biological activity and helps establish a framework for the kinetic mechanism of action. Surface plasmon resonance supports the kinetic framework and supports lipid aggregation as a driver of antimicrobial function. Joseph Brown et al. use oligothioetheramides (oligo TEAs) to show that multimeric lipid aggregation in Staphylococcus aureus mimetic membranes correlates with the biological activity of oligoTEAs. These results may explain why antimicrobial peptides with identical cationic charge and hydrophobicity show different biological activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph S Brown
- Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 120 Olin Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
| | - Zeinab J Mohamed
- Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 120 Olin Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
| | - Christine M Artim
- Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 120 Olin Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
| | - Dana N Thornlow
- Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 120 Olin Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
| | - Joseph F Hassler
- Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 120 Olin Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
| | - Vincent P Rigoglioso
- Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 120 Olin Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
| | - Susan Daniel
- Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 120 Olin Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
| | - Christopher A Alabi
- Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 120 Olin Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
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20
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Bioinspired Designs, Molecular Premise and Tools for Evaluating the Ecological Importance of Antimicrobial Peptides. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2018; 11:ph11030068. [PMID: 29996512 PMCID: PMC6161137 DOI: 10.3390/ph11030068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2018] [Revised: 07/06/2018] [Accepted: 07/07/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
This review article provides an overview of recent developments in antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), summarizing structural diversity, potential new applications, activity targets and microbial killing responses in general. The use of artificial and natural AMPs as templates for rational design of peptidomimetics are also discussed and some strategies are put forward to curtail cytotoxic effects against eukaryotic cells. Considering the heat-resistant nature, chemical and proteolytic stability of AMPs, we attempt to summarize their molecular targets, examine how these macromolecules may contribute to potential environmental risks vis-à-vis the activities of the peptides. We further point out the evolutional characteristics of the macromolecules and indicate how they can be useful in designing target-specific peptides. Methods are suggested that may help to assess toxic mechanisms of AMPs and possible solutions are discussed to promote the development and application of AMPs in medicine. Even if there is wide exposure to the environment like in the hospital settings, AMPs may instead contribute to prevent healthcare-associated infections so long as ecotoxicological aspects are considered.
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21
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Lee TH, Hirst DJ, Kulkarni K, Del Borgo MP, Aguilar MI. Exploring Molecular-Biomembrane Interactions with Surface Plasmon Resonance and Dual Polarization Interferometry Technology: Expanding the Spotlight onto Biomembrane Structure. Chem Rev 2018; 118:5392-5487. [PMID: 29793341 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.7b00729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The molecular analysis of biomolecular-membrane interactions is central to understanding most cellular systems but has emerged as a complex technical challenge given the complexities of membrane structure and composition across all living cells. We present a review of the application of surface plasmon resonance and dual polarization interferometry-based biosensors to the study of biomembrane-based systems using both planar mono- or bilayers or liposomes. We first describe the optical principals and instrumentation of surface plasmon resonance, including both linear and extraordinary transmission modes and dual polarization interferometry. We then describe the wide range of model membrane systems that have been developed for deposition on the chips surfaces that include planar, polymer cushioned, tethered bilayers, and liposomes. This is followed by a description of the different chemical immobilization or physisorption techniques. The application of this broad range of engineered membrane surfaces to biomolecular-membrane interactions is then overviewed and how the information obtained using these techniques enhance our molecular understanding of membrane-mediated peptide and protein function. We first discuss experiments where SPR alone has been used to characterize membrane binding and describe how these studies yielded novel insight into the molecular events associated with membrane interactions and how they provided a significant impetus to more recent studies that focus on coincident membrane structure changes during binding of peptides and proteins. We then discuss the emerging limitations of not monitoring the effects on membrane structure and how SPR data can be combined with DPI to provide significant new information on how a membrane responds to the binding of peptides and proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tzong-Hsien Lee
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Biomedicine Discovery Institute , Monash University , Clayton , VIC 3800 , Australia
| | - Daniel J Hirst
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Biomedicine Discovery Institute , Monash University , Clayton , VIC 3800 , Australia
| | - Ketav Kulkarni
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Biomedicine Discovery Institute , Monash University , Clayton , VIC 3800 , Australia
| | - Mark P Del Borgo
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Biomedicine Discovery Institute , Monash University , Clayton , VIC 3800 , Australia
| | - Marie-Isabel Aguilar
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Biomedicine Discovery Institute , Monash University , Clayton , VIC 3800 , Australia
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22
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de Freitas LM, Lorenzón EN, Santos-Filho NA, Zago LHDP, Uliana MP, de Oliveira KT, Cilli EM, Fontana CR. Antimicrobial Photodynamic therapy enhanced by the peptide aurein 1.2. Sci Rep 2018. [PMID: 29523862 PMCID: PMC5844988 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-22687-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
In the past few years, the World Health Organization has been warning that the post-antibiotic era is an increasingly real threat. The rising and disseminated resistance to antibiotics made mandatory the search for new drugs and/or alternative therapies that are able to eliminate resistant microorganisms and impair the development of new forms of resistance. In this context, antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) and helical cationic antimicrobial peptides (AMP) are highlighted for the treatment of localized infections. This study aimed to combine the AMP aurein 1.2 to aPDT using Enterococcus faecalis as a model strain. Our results demonstrate that the combination of aPDT with aurein 1.2 proved to be a feasible alternative capable of completely eliminating E. faecalis employing low concentrations of both PS and AMP, in comparison with the individual therapies. Aurein 1.2 is capable of enhancing the aPDT activity whenever mediated by methylene blue or chlorin-e6, but not by curcumin, revealing a PS-dependent mechanism. The combined treatment was also effective against different strains; noteworthy, it completely eliminated a vancomycin-resistant strain of Enterococcus faecium. Our results suggest that this combined protocol must be exploited for clinical applications in localized infections as an alternative to antibiotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Marise de Freitas
- Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Araraquara, SP, Rodovia Araraquara-Jaú, km 1, Campus Ville, CEP, 14800-903, Brazil
| | - Esteban Nicolás Lorenzón
- Universidade Federal de Goiás, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Campus II Samambaia, 74690-900, Goiânia, GO, Brazil
| | - Norival Alves Santos-Filho
- Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Instituto de Química, Araraquara, SP, Rua Prof. Francisco Degni, 55, Quitandinha, CEP, 14800-060, Brazil
| | - Lucas Henrique de Paula Zago
- Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Araraquara, SP, Rodovia Araraquara-Jaú, km 1, Campus Ville, CEP, 14800-903, Brazil
| | - Marciana Pierina Uliana
- Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), Departamento de Química, Laboratório de Química Bioorgânica, Rodovia Washington Luis, km 235 - SP-310, São Carlos, SP, CEP 13565-905, Brazil.,Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana (UNILA), Avenida Silvio Américo Sasdelli, 1842 - Vila A, Edifício Comercial Lorivo, CEP, 85866-000, Foz do Iguaçu, PR, Brazil
| | - Kleber Thiago de Oliveira
- Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), Departamento de Química, Laboratório de Química Bioorgânica, Rodovia Washington Luis, km 235 - SP-310, São Carlos, SP, CEP 13565-905, Brazil
| | - Eduardo Maffud Cilli
- Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Instituto de Química, Araraquara, SP, Rua Prof. Francisco Degni, 55, Quitandinha, CEP, 14800-060, Brazil
| | - Carla Raquel Fontana
- Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Araraquara, SP, Rodovia Araraquara-Jaú, km 1, Campus Ville, CEP, 14800-903, Brazil.
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Piotrowska U, Sobczak M, Oledzka E. Current state of a dual behaviour of antimicrobial peptides-Therapeutic agents and promising delivery vectors. Chem Biol Drug Des 2017; 90:1079-1093. [DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2017] [Revised: 05/14/2017] [Accepted: 05/18/2017] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Urszula Piotrowska
- Chair of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry; Department of Biomaterials Chemistry; Faculty of Pharmacy with the Laboratory Medicine Division; Medical University of Warsaw; Warsaw Poland
| | - Marcin Sobczak
- Chair of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry; Department of Biomaterials Chemistry; Faculty of Pharmacy with the Laboratory Medicine Division; Medical University of Warsaw; Warsaw Poland
| | - Ewa Oledzka
- Chair of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry; Department of Biomaterials Chemistry; Faculty of Pharmacy with the Laboratory Medicine Division; Medical University of Warsaw; Warsaw Poland
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24
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Pal S, Ghosh U, Singh G, Alam F, Singh S, Chopra S, Sinha S, Ampapathi RS, Chakraborty TK. Synthesis, Conformational Studies and Biological Profiles of Tetrahydrofuran Amino-Acid-Containing Cationic Antitubercular Peptides. ASIAN J ORG CHEM 2017. [DOI: 10.1002/ajoc.201700183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Sudip Pal
- Medicinal & Process Chemistry Division; CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute; Lucknow 226031 India
| | - Uttam Ghosh
- Department of Organic Chemistry; Indian Institute of Science; Bangalore 560012 India
| | - Gajendra Singh
- NMR Research Centre, Division of SAIF; CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute; Lucknow 226031 India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research; New Delhi 110001 India
| | - Faiyaz Alam
- NMR Research Centre, Division of SAIF; CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute; Lucknow 226031 India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research; New Delhi 110001 India
| | - Shyam Singh
- Biochemistry Division; CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute; Lucknow 226031 India
| | - Sidharth Chopra
- Microbiology Division; CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute; Lucknow 226031 India
| | - Sudhir Sinha
- Biochemistry Division; CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute; Lucknow 226031 India
| | - Ravi Sankar Ampapathi
- NMR Research Centre, Division of SAIF; CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute; Lucknow 226031 India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research; New Delhi 110001 India
| | - Tushar Kanti Chakraborty
- Medicinal & Process Chemistry Division; CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute; Lucknow 226031 India
- Department of Organic Chemistry; Indian Institute of Science; Bangalore 560012 India
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25
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Asfaw H, Laqua K, Walkowska AM, Cunningham F, Martinez-Martinez MS, Cuevas-Zurita JC, Ballell-Pages L, Imming P. Design, synthesis and structure-activity relationship study of wollamide B; a new potential anti TB agent. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0176088. [PMID: 28423019 PMCID: PMC5397059 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2017] [Accepted: 04/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Wollamide B is a cationic antimycobacterial cyclohexapeptide that exhibits activity against Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) (IC50 of 3.1 μM). Aiming to define its structural activity relationship (SAR), optimizing potency and pharmacokinetic properties, libraries of analogues were synthesized following a standard Fmoc-based solid phase peptide synthesis approach. The antimycobacterial activities of wollamide B and all the synthesized analogues were tested against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) H37Rv. Parallely, in vitro drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic (ADME) profiling was done for the synthesized compounds to evaluate their drug likeness. Among the 25 synthesized wollamides five of them showed potent activities with MICs ≤ 3.1 μM and found to be nontoxic against human HepG2 cells up to 100 μM. The results of the in vitro ADME profiling revealed the remarkable plasma stability and very good aqueous solubility of the class in general while the metabolic stability was found to be moderate to low. Of particular note, compounds 7c (MIC = 1.1 μM) and 13c (0.6 μM) that exhibited good balance of antimycobacterial activity vs. optimal pharmacokinetic properties could be used as a new lead for further development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henok Asfaw
- Institut für Pharmazie, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Katja Laqua
- Institut für Pharmazie, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Anna Maria Walkowska
- Institut für Pharmazie, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Fraser Cunningham
- Diseases of the Developing World, Medicines Development Campus, GlaxoSmithKline, Tres Cantos, Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Juan Carlos Cuevas-Zurita
- Diseases of the Developing World, Medicines Development Campus, GlaxoSmithKline, Tres Cantos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Lluís Ballell-Pages
- Diseases of the Developing World, Medicines Development Campus, GlaxoSmithKline, Tres Cantos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Peter Imming
- Institut für Pharmazie, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
- * E-mail:
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26
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Grassi L, Maisetta G, Maccari G, Esin S, Batoni G. Analogs of the Frog-skin Antimicrobial Peptide Temporin 1Tb Exhibit a Wider Spectrum of Activity and a Stronger Antibiofilm Potential as Compared to the Parental Peptide. Front Chem 2017; 5:24. [PMID: 28443279 PMCID: PMC5387044 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2017.00024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2016] [Accepted: 03/23/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The frog skin-derived peptide Temporin 1Tb (TB) has gained increasing attention as novel antimicrobial agent for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant and/or biofilm-mediated infections. Nevertheless, such a peptide possesses a preferential spectrum of action against Gram-positive bacteria. In order to improve the therapeutic potential of TB, the present study evaluated the antibacterial and antibiofilm activities of two TB analogs against medically relevant bacterial species. Of the two analogs, TB_KKG6A has been previously described in the literature, while TB_L1FK is a new analog designed by us through statistical-based computational strategies. Both TB analogs displayed a faster and stronger bactericidal activity than the parental peptide, especially against Gram-negative bacteria in planktonic form. Differently from the parental peptide, TB_KKG6A and TB_L1FK were able to inhibit the formation of Staphylococcus aureus biofilms by more than 50% at 12 μM, while only TB_KKG6A prevented the formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms at 24 μM. A marked antibiofilm activity against preformed biofilms of both bacterial species was observed for the two TB analogs when used in combination with EDTA. Analysis of synergism at the cellular level suggested that the antibiofilm activity exerted by the peptide-EDTA combinations against mature biofilms might be due mainly to a disaggregating effect on the extracellular matrix in the case of S. aureus, and to a direct activity on biofilm-embedded cells in the case of P. aeruginosa. Both analogs displayed a low hemolytic effect at the active concentrations and, overall, TB_L1FK resulted less cytotoxic toward mammalian cells. Collectively, the results obtained demonstrated that subtle changes in the primary sequence of TB may provide TB analogs that, used alone or in combination with adjuvant molecules such as EDTA, exhibit promising features against both planktonic and biofilm cells of medically relevant bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia Grassi
- Department of Translational Research and new Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of PisaPisa, Italy
| | - Giuseppantonio Maisetta
- Department of Translational Research and new Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of PisaPisa, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Maccari
- Center for Nanotechnology Innovation @NEST, Italian Institute of TechnologyPisa, Italy
| | - Semih Esin
- Department of Translational Research and new Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of PisaPisa, Italy
| | - Giovanna Batoni
- Department of Translational Research and new Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of PisaPisa, Italy
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27
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Abstract
Methods are described for the design of amphipathic helical AMPs, to improve potency and/or increase selectivity with respect to host cells. One method is based on the statistical analysis of known helical AMPs to derive a sequence template and ranges of charge, hydrophobicity, and amphipathicity (hydrophobic moment) values that lead to broad-spectrum activity, but leaves optimization for selectivity to subsequent rounds of SAR determinations. A second method uses a small database of anuran AMPs with known potency (MIC values vs. E. coli) and selectivity (HC50 values vs. human erythrocytes), as well as the concept of longitudinal moment, to suggest sequences or sequence variations that can improve selectivity. These methods can assist in the initial design of novel AMPs with useful properties in vitro, but further development requires knowledge-based decisions and a sound prior understanding of how structural and physical attributes of this class of peptides affect their mechanism of action against bacteria and host cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davor Juretić
- Mediterranean Institute for Life Sciences, Split, Croatia
| | - Damir Vukičević
- Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, University of Split, Split, Croatia
| | - Alessandro Tossi
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Licio Giorgiere1, 34127, Trieste, Italy.
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Chen C, Hu J, Yang C, Zhang Y, Wang F, Mu Q, Pan F, Xu H, Lu JR. Amino acid side chains affect the bioactivity of designed short peptide amphiphiles. J Mater Chem B 2016; 4:2359-2368. [PMID: 32263231 DOI: 10.1039/c6tb00155f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The artificially designed amphiphilic peptide G(IIKK)3I-NH2 has been shown to be highly effective at killing bacteria and inhibiting the growth of tumor cells whilst remaining benign to normal mammalian cells. Herein we report how the side chain length and branching of constituent amino acids affect these bioactivities. Two peptide groups were designed by utilizing G(IIKK)3I-NH2 as the base template. In Group 1, hydrophobic residues were replaced from Ile to Leu, Nle (norleucine), or Val. It was found that an increase in the side chain carbon number from 3 (Val) to 4 (Leu, Ile or Nle) substantially enhanced their antibacterial and antitumor activities, but different branching in the butyl side chain showed very different cytotoxicities to host mammalian cells, with the γ-branching in Leu eliciting the highest potency. Group 2 covered those cationic Lys residues which were replaced by synthetic homologues with shorter side chains, namely, Orn, Dab and Dap containing 3, 2 and 1 methylene units, respectively. The replacement did not affect their antibacterial activities much, but their anticancer activities were maximized in Orn and Dab. On the other hand, their cytotoxicities also became higher, indicating a multi-faceted role played by the cationic residues. Thus, changes in both the side chain length and branching strongly affected the amphiphilicity of the short peptides and their interactions with different membranes. This work has revealed a strong relationship among side chain structures, amphiphilicity and selective bioactivities of the short peptide amphiphiles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cuixia Chen
- Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology, China University of Petroleum (East China), 66 Changjiang West Road, Qingdao 266580, China.
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29
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The human cathelicidin LL-37 — A pore-forming antibacterial peptide and host-cell modulator. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOMEMBRANES 2016; 1858:546-66. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2015.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 206] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2015] [Revised: 10/30/2015] [Accepted: 11/05/2015] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
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30
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Wang J, Chou S, Xu L, Zhu X, Dong N, Shan A, Chen Z. High specific selectivity and Membrane-Active Mechanism of the synthetic centrosymmetric α-helical peptides with Gly-Gly pairs. Sci Rep 2015; 5:15963. [PMID: 26530005 PMCID: PMC4632126 DOI: 10.1038/srep15963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2015] [Accepted: 10/06/2015] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We used a template-assisted approach to develop synthetic antimicrobial peptides, which differ from naturally occurring antimicrobial peptides that can compromise host natural defenses. Previous researches have demonstrated that symmetrical distribution patterns of amino acids contribute to the antimicrobial activity of natural peptides. However, there is little research describing such design ideas for synthetic α-helical peptides. Therefore, here, we established a centrosymmetric α-helical sequence template (y + hhh + y)n (h, hydrophobic amino acid; +, cationic amino acid; y, Gly or hydrophobic amino acid), which contributed to amphipathicity, and a series of centrosymmetric peptides was designed with pairs of small amino acids (Ala and Gly), which were utilized to modulate the biological activity. The centrosymmetric peptides with 3 repeat units exhibited strong antimicrobial activity; in particular, the Gly-rich centrosymmetric peptide GG3 showed stronger selectivity for gram-negative bacteria without hemolysis. Furthermore, beyond our expectation, fluorescence spectroscopy and electron microscopy analyses indicated that the GG3, which possessed poor α-helix conformation, dramatically exhibited marked membrane destruction via inducing bacterial membrane permeabilization, pore formation and disruption, even bound DNA to further exert antimicrobial activity. Collectively, the Gly-rich centrosymmetric peptide GG3 was an ideal candidate for commercialization as a clinical therapeutic to treat gram-negative bacterial infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiajun Wang
- Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P.R. China
| | - Shuli Chou
- Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P.R. China
| | - Lin Xu
- Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P.R. China
| | - Xin Zhu
- Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P.R. China
| | - Na Dong
- Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P.R. China
| | - Anshan Shan
- Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P.R. China
| | - Zhihui Chen
- Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P.R. China
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31
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Benincasa M, Francescon M, Fregonese M, Gennaro R, Pengo P, Rossi P, Scrimin P, Tecilla P. Helical peptide-polyamine and -polyether conjugates as synthetic ionophores. Bioorg Med Chem 2015; 23:7386-93. [PMID: 26558517 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2015.10.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2015] [Revised: 10/21/2015] [Accepted: 10/23/2015] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Two new synthetic ionophores in which the hydrophobic portion is represented by a short helical Aib-peptide (Aib=α-amino-isobutyric acid) and the hydrophilic one is a poly-amino (1a) or a polyether (1b) chain have been prepared. The two conjugates show a high ionophoric activity in phospholipid membranes being able to efficiently dissipate a pH gradient and, in the case of 1b, to transport Na(+) across the membrane. Bioactivity evaluation of the two conjugates shows that 1a has a moderate antimicrobial activity against a broad spectrum of microorganisms and it is able to permeabilize the inner and the outer membrane of Escherichia coli cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica Benincasa
- University of Trieste, Department of Life Sciences, via Giorgieri 5, I-34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Marco Francescon
- University of Trieste, Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, via Giorgieri 1, I-34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Massimo Fregonese
- University of Trieste, Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, via Giorgieri 1, I-34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Renato Gennaro
- University of Trieste, Department of Life Sciences, via Giorgieri 5, I-34127 Trieste, Italy.
| | - Paolo Pengo
- University of Trieste, Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, via Giorgieri 1, I-34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Paola Rossi
- University of Trieste, Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, via Giorgieri 1, I-34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Paolo Scrimin
- University of Padova, Department of Chemical Sciences, via Marzolo 1, I-35131 Padova, Italy.
| | - Paolo Tecilla
- University of Trieste, Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, via Giorgieri 1, I-34127 Trieste, Italy.
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32
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Wanandy T, Gueven N, Davies NW, Brown SG, Wiese MD. Pilosulins: A review of the structure and mode of action of venom peptides from an Australian ant Myrmecia pilosula. Toxicon 2015; 98:54-61. [DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2015.02.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2014] [Revised: 01/11/2015] [Accepted: 02/24/2015] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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33
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New aspects of the structure and mode of action of the human cathelicidin LL-37 revealed by the intrinsic probe p-cyanophenylalanine. Biochem J 2015; 465:443-57. [PMID: 25378136 DOI: 10.1042/bj20141016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
The human cathelicidin peptide LL-37 is an important effector of our innate immune system and contributes to host defence with direct antimicrobial activity and immunomodulatory properties, and by stimulating wound healing. Its sequence has evolved to confer specific structural characteristics that strongly affect these biological activities, and differentiate it from orthologues of other primate species. In the present paper we report a detailed study of the folding and self-assembly of this peptide in comparison with rhesus monkey peptide RL-37, taking into account the different stages of its trajectory from bulk solution to contact with, and insertion into, biological membranes. Phenylalanine residues in different positions throughout the native sequences of LL-37 and RL-37 were systematically replaced with the non-invasive fluorescent and IR probe p-cyanophenylalanine. Steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence studies showed that LL-37, in contrast to RL-37, forms oligomers with a loose hydrophobic core in physiological solutions, which persist in the presence of biological membranes. Fourier transform IR and surface plasmon resonance studies also indicated different modes of interaction for LL-37 and RL-37 with anionic and neutral membranes. This correlated with a distinctly different mode of bacterial membrane permeabilization, as determined using a flow cytometric method involving impermeant fluorescent dyes linked to polymers of defined sizes.
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34
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Lampel A, Elis E, Guterman T, Shapira S, Marco P, Bacharach E, Gazit E. α-Aminoisobutyric acid incorporation induces cell permeability and antiviral activity of HIV-1 major homology region fragments. Chem Commun (Camb) 2015; 51:12349-52. [DOI: 10.1039/c5cc01421b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
A cell-penetrating peptide derived from HIV-1 major homology region, incorporating the non-coded α-aminoisobutyric acid, inhibits viral assembly and infectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayala Lampel
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology
- George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences
- Tel Aviv University
- Tel Aviv 69978
- Israel
| | - Efrat Elis
- Department of Cell Research and Immunology
- George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences
- Tel Aviv University
- Tel Aviv 69978
- Israel
| | - Tom Guterman
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology
- George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences
- Tel Aviv University
- Tel Aviv 69978
- Israel
| | - Sharon Shapira
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology
- George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences
- Tel Aviv University
- Tel Aviv 69978
- Israel
| | - Pini Marco
- Department of Molecular Biology & Ecology of Plants
- George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences
- Tel Aviv University
- Tel Aviv 69978
- Israel
| | - Eran Bacharach
- Department of Cell Research and Immunology
- George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences
- Tel Aviv University
- Tel Aviv 69978
- Israel
| | - Ehud Gazit
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology
- George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences
- Tel Aviv University
- Tel Aviv 69978
- Israel
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35
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Uggerhøj LE, Poulsen TJ, Munk JK, Fredborg M, Sondergaard TE, Frimodt-Moller N, Hansen PR, Wimmer R. Rational Design of Alpha-Helical Antimicrobial Peptides: Do's and Don'ts. Chembiochem 2014; 16:242-53. [DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201402581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2014] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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36
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Small cationic antimicrobial peptides delocalize peripheral membrane proteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 111:E1409-18. [PMID: 24706874 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1319900111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 244] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Short antimicrobial peptides rich in arginine (R) and tryptophan (W) interact with membranes. To learn how this interaction leads to bacterial death, we characterized the effects of the minimal pharmacophore RWRWRW-NH2. A ruthenium-substituted derivative of this peptide localized to the membrane in vivo, and the peptide also integrated readily into mixed phospholipid bilayers that resemble Gram-positive membranes. Proteome and Western blot analyses showed that integration of the peptide caused delocalization of peripheral membrane proteins essential for respiration and cell-wall biosynthesis, limiting cellular energy and undermining cell-wall integrity. This delocalization phenomenon also was observed with the cyclic peptide gramicidin S, indicating the generality of the mechanism. Exogenous glutamate increases tolerance to the peptide, indicating that osmotic destabilization also contributes to antibacterial efficacy. Bacillus subtilis responds to peptide stress by releasing osmoprotective amino acids, in part via mechanosensitive channels. This response is triggered by membrane-targeting bacteriolytic peptides of different structural classes as well as by hypoosmotic conditions.
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37
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Schmidtchen A, Pasupuleti M, Malmsten M. Effect of hydrophobic modifications in antimicrobial peptides. Adv Colloid Interface Sci 2014; 205:265-74. [PMID: 23910480 DOI: 10.1016/j.cis.2013.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 108] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2013] [Revised: 06/17/2013] [Accepted: 06/27/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
With increasing resistance development against conventional antibiotics, there is an urgent need to identify novel approaches for infection treatment. Antimicrobial peptides may offer opportunities in this context, hence there has been considerable interest in identification and optimization of such peptides during the last decade in particular, with the long-term aim of developing these to potent and safe therapeutics. In the present overview, focus is placed on hydrophobic modifications of antimicrobial peptides, and how these may provide opportunities to combat also more demanding pathogens, including multi-resistant strains, yet not provoking unacceptable toxic responses. In doing so, physicochemical factors affecting peptide interactions with bacterial and eukaryotic cell membranes are discussed. Throughout, an attempt is made to illustrate how physicochemical studies on model lipid membranes can be correlated to result from bacterial and cell assays, and knowledge from this translated into therapeutic considerations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Artur Schmidtchen
- Section of Dermatology and Venereology, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, SE-221 84 Lund, Sweden
| | - Mukesh Pasupuleti
- Section of Dermatology and Venereology, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, SE-221 84 Lund, Sweden
| | - Martin Malmsten
- Department of Pharmacy, Uppsala University, P.O. Box 580, SE-751 23 Uppsala, Sweden.
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38
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Antimicrobial peptides. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2013; 6:1543-75. [PMID: 24287494 PMCID: PMC3873676 DOI: 10.3390/ph6121543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 835] [Impact Index Per Article: 75.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2013] [Revised: 11/21/2013] [Accepted: 11/25/2013] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The rapid increase in drug-resistant infections has presented a serious challenge to antimicrobial therapies. The failure of the most potent antibiotics to kill “superbugs” emphasizes the urgent need to develop other control agents. Here we review the history and new development of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), a growing class of natural and synthetic peptides with a wide spectrum of targets including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. We summarize the major types of AMPs, their modes of action, and the common mechanisms of AMP resistance. In addition, we discuss the principles for designing effective AMPs and the potential of using AMPs to control biofilms (multicellular structures of bacteria embedded in extracellular matrixes) and persister cells (dormant phenotypic variants of bacterial cells that are highly tolerant to antibiotics).
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39
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Novel method to identify the optimal antimicrobial peptide in a combination matrix, using anoplin as an example. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2013; 58:1063-70. [PMID: 24277042 DOI: 10.1128/aac.02369-13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Microbial resistance is an increasing health concern and a true danger to human well-being. A worldwide search for new compounds is ongoing, and antimicrobial peptides are promising lead candidates for tomorrow's antibiotics. The decapeptide anoplin (GLLKRIKTLL-NH2) is an especially interesting candidate because of its small size as well as its antimicrobial and nonhemolytic properties. Optimization of the properties of an antimicrobial peptide such as anoplin requires multidimensional searching in a complex chemical space. Typically, such optimization is performed by labor-intensive and costly trial-and-error methods. In this study, we show the benefit of fractional factorial design for identification of the optimal antimicrobial peptide in a combination matrix. We synthesized and analyzed a training set of 12 anoplin analogs, representative of 64 analogs in total. Using MIC, hemolysis, and high-performance liquid chromatography retention time data, we constructed analysis-of-variance models that describe the relationship between these properties and the structural characteristics of the analogs. We show that the mathematical models derived from the training set data can be used to predict the properties of other analogs in the chemical space. Hence, this method provides an efficient means of identification of the optimal peptide in the searched chemical space.
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40
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Bobone S, Bocchinfuso G, Park Y, Palleschi A, Hahm KS, Stella L. The importance of being kinked: role of Pro residues in the selectivity of the helical antimicrobial peptide P5. J Pept Sci 2013; 19:758-69. [DOI: 10.1002/psc.2574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2013] [Revised: 09/17/2013] [Accepted: 09/20/2013] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Sara Bobone
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche; Università di Roma Tor Vergata; Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1 00133 Rome Italy
| | - Gianfranco Bocchinfuso
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche; Università di Roma Tor Vergata; Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1 00133 Rome Italy
| | - Yoonkyung Park
- Department of Cellular & Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine; Chosun University; Gwangju 501-759 Korea
| | - Antonio Palleschi
- Department of Cellular & Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine; Chosun University; Gwangju 501-759 Korea
| | - Kyung-Soo Hahm
- BioLeaders Corp.; 559 Yongsan-Dong, Yuseong-Ku Daejeon 305-500 Korea
| | - Lorenzo Stella
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche; Università di Roma Tor Vergata; Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1 00133 Rome Italy
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41
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Cho J, Choi H, Lee J, Kim MS, Sohn HY, Lee DG. The antifungal activity and membrane-disruptive action of dioscin extracted from Dioscorea nipponica. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOMEMBRANES 2013; 1828:1153-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2012.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2012] [Revised: 11/28/2012] [Accepted: 12/13/2012] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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42
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Ilić N, Novković M, Guida F, Xhindoli D, Benincasa M, Tossi A, Juretić D. Selective antimicrobial activity and mode of action of adepantins, glycine-rich peptide antibiotics based on anuran antimicrobial peptide sequences. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOMEMBRANES 2012. [PMID: 23196344 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2012.11.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
A challenge when designing membrane-active peptide antibiotics with therapeutic potential is how to ensure a useful antibacterial activity whilst avoiding unacceptable cytotoxicity for host cells. Understanding their mode of interaction with membranes and the reasons underlying their ability to distinguish between bacterial and eukaryotic cytoplasmic cells is crucial for any rational attempt to improve this selectivity. We have approached this problem by analysing natural helical antimicrobial peptides of anuran origin, using a structure-activity database to determine an antimicrobial selectivity index (SI) relating the minimal inhibitory concentration against Escherichia coli to the haemolytic activity (SI=HC(50)/MIC). A parameter that correlated strongly with SI, derived from the lengthwise asymmetry of the peptides' hydrophobicity (sequence moment), was then used in the "Designer" algorithm to propose novel, highly selective peptides. Amongst these are the 'adepantins', peptides rich in glycines and lysines that are highly selective for Gram-negative bacteria, have an exceptionally low haemolytic activity, and are less than 50% homologous to any other natural or synthetic antimicrobial peptide. In particular, they showed a very high SI for E. coli (up to 400) whilst maintaining an antimicrobial activity in the 0.5-4μM range. Experiments with monomeric, dimeric and fluorescently labelled versions of the adepantins, using different bacterial strains, host cells and model membrane systems provided insight into their mechanism of action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nada Ilić
- Faculty of Science, University of Split, Split, Croatia
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43
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Kamech N, Vukičević D, Ladram A, Piesse C, Vasseur J, Bojović V, Simunić J, Juretić D. Improving the Selectivity of Antimicrobial Peptides from Anuran Skin. J Chem Inf Model 2012; 52:3341-51. [DOI: 10.1021/ci300328y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Nédia Kamech
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 06, Equipe Biogenèse des signaux
peptidiques, ER3, 7 Quai Saint-Bernard, 75252 Paris cedex 05, France
| | - Damir Vukičević
- Faculty of Science, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
| | - Ali Ladram
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 06, Equipe Biogenèse des signaux
peptidiques, ER3, 7 Quai Saint-Bernard, 75252 Paris cedex 05, France
| | - Christophe Piesse
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 06, Ingénierie des protéines,
Institut de Biologie intégrative IFR 83, 7 Quai Saint-Bernard,
75252 Paris cedex 05, France
| | - Julie Vasseur
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 06, Equipe Biogenèse des signaux
peptidiques, ER3, 7 Quai Saint-Bernard, 75252 Paris cedex 05, France
| | - Viktor Bojović
- Ruđer Bošković Institute, Centre for Informatics and Computing, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Juraj Simunić
- Faculty of Science, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
| | - Davor Juretić
- Faculty of Science, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
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44
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Sand SL, Nissen-Meyer J, Sand O, Haug TM. Plantaricin A, a cationic peptide produced by Lactobacillus plantarum, permeabilizes eukaryotic cell membranes by a mechanism dependent on negative surface charge linked to glycosylated membrane proteins. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOMEMBRANES 2012; 1828:249-59. [PMID: 23142566 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2012.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2012] [Revised: 10/01/2012] [Accepted: 11/01/2012] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Lactobacillus plantarum C11 releases plantaricin A (PlnA), a cationic peptide pheromone that has a membrane-permeabilizing, antimicrobial effect. We have previously shown that PlnA may also permeabilize eukaryotic cells, with a potency that differs between cell types. It is generally assumed that cationic antimicrobial peptides exert their effects through electrostatic attraction to negatively charged phospholipids in the membrane. The aim of the present study was to investigate if removal of the negative charge linked to glycosylated proteins at the cell surface reduces the permeabilizing potency of PlnA. The effects of PlnA were tested on clonal rat anterior pituitary cells (GH(4) cells) using patch clamp and microfluorometric techniques. In physiological extracellular solution, GH(4) cells are highly sensitive to PlnA, but the sensitivity was dramatically reduced in solutions that partly neutralize the negative surface charge of the cells, in agreement with the notion that electrostatic interactions are probably important for the PlnA effects. Trypsination of cells prior to PlnA exposure also rendered the cells less sensitive to the peptide, suggesting that negative charges linked to membrane proteins are involved in the permeabilizing action. Finally, pre-exposure of cells to a mixture of enzymes that split carbohydrate residues from the backbone of glycosylated proteins also impeded the PlnA-induced membrane permeabilization. We conclude that electrostatic attraction between PlnA and glycosylated membrane proteins is probably an essential first step before PlnA can interact with membrane phospholipids. Deviating glycosylation patterns may contribute to the variation in PlnA sensitivity of different cell types, including cancerous cells and their normal counterparts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sverre L Sand
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
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Hai Nan Y, Jacob B, Kim Y, Yub Shin S. Linear bactenecin analogs with cell selectivity and anti-endotoxic activity. J Pept Sci 2012; 18:740-7. [PMID: 23109411 DOI: 10.1002/psc.2460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2012] [Revised: 08/29/2012] [Accepted: 09/21/2012] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Bactenecin (Bac) is a 12-residue disulfide-linked antimicrobial peptide isolated from the granules of bovine neutrophils. In this study, to develop novel linear Bac analogs with cell selectivity and anti-endotoxic activity, we designed and synthesized a series of linear Bac analogs with amino acid substitution in Cys3,11 and/or Val6,7 of Bac. Among Bac analogs, some analogs (Bac-W, Bac-KW, Bac-L, Bac-KL, Bac-LW, and Bac-KLW) with higher hydrophobicity showed the amalgamated property of cell selectivity and anti-endotoxic activity. Furthermore, Bac-W, Bac-KW, Bac-LW, and Bac-KLW showed serum stability comparable with that of disulfide-bonded Bac. Therefore, these Bac analogs (Bac-W, Bac-KW, Bac-LW, and Bac-KLW) can serve as promising antibiotics for the development of therapeutic agents for treatment against endotoxic shock and bacterial infection. In addition, our results suggest that a little increase in hydrophobicity may be responsible for the decreased cell selectivity of the multiple Arg-containing peptides (Bac-W, Bac-L, and Bac-LW) over the multiple Lys-containing peptides (Bac-KW, Bac-KL, and Bac-KLW).
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong Hai Nan
- Department of Bio-Materials, Graduate School, Chosun University, Gwangju, 501-759, Korea
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Yuan T, Zhang X, Hu Z, Wang F, Lei M. Molecular dynamics studies of the antimicrobial peptides piscidin 1 and its mutants with a DOPC lipid bilayer. Biopolymers 2012; 97:998-1009. [DOI: 10.1002/bip.22116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Sharma SP, Sharma J, Kanwar SS, Chauhan VS. In vitro antibacterial and antimalarial activity of dehydrophenylalanine-containing undecapeptides alone and in combination with drugs. Int J Antimicrob Agents 2012; 39:146-52. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2011.10.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2011] [Revised: 09/26/2011] [Accepted: 10/06/2011] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
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Tessera V, Guida F, Juretić D, Tossi A. Identification of antimicrobial peptides from teleosts and anurans in expressed sequence tag databases using conserved signal sequences. FEBS J 2012; 279:724-36. [PMID: 22188679 DOI: 10.1111/j.1742-4658.2011.08463.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
The problem of multidrug resistance requires the efficient and accurate identification of new classes of antimicrobial agents. Endogenous antimicrobial peptides produced by most organisms are a promising source of such molecules. We have exploited the high conservation of signal sequences in teleost and anuran antimicrobial peptides to search cDNA (expressed sequence tag) databases for likely candidates. Subject sequences were then analysed for the presence of potential antimicrobial peptides based on physicochemical properties (amphipathic helical structure, cationicity) and use of the D-descriptor model to predict the therapeutic index (relation between the minimum inhibitory concentration and the concentration giving 50% haemolysis). This analysis also suggested mutations to probe the role of the primary structure in determining potency and selectivity. Selected sequences were chemically synthesized and the antimicrobial activity of the peptides was confirmed. In particular, a short (21-residue) sequence, likely of sticklefish origin, showed potent activity and it was possible to tune the spectrum of action and/or selectivity by combining three directed mutations. Membrane permeabilization studies on both bacterial and host cells indicate that the mode of action was prevalently membranolytic. This method opens up the possibility for more effective searching of the vast and continuously growing expressed sequence tag databases for novel antimicrobial peptides, which are likely abundant, and the efficient identification of the most promising candidates among them.
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Use of unnatural amino acids to probe structure-activity relationships and mode-of-action of antimicrobial peptides. Methods Mol Biol 2012; 794:169-83. [PMID: 21956562 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-61779-331-8_10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Endogenous antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) can have multimodal mechanisms of bacterial inactivation, such as membrane lysis, interference with cell wall biosynthesis or membrane-based protein machineries, or translocation through the membrane to intracellular targets. The controlled variation of side-chain characteristics in their amino acid residues can provide much useful information on structure-activity relationships and mode-of-action, and also lead to improved activities. The small size and relatively low complexity of AMPs make them amenable to solid-phase peptide synthesis, facilitating the use of nonproteinogenic amino acids and vastly increasing the accessible molecular diversity of side chains. Here, we describe how such residues can be used to modulate such key parameters as cationicity, hydrophobicity, steric factors conformational stability, and H-bonding.
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Siano A, Húmpola MV, Rey MC, Simonetta A, Tonarelli GG. Interaction of acylated and substituted antimicrobial peptide analogs with phospholipid-polydiacetylene vesicles. Correlation with their biological properties. Chem Biol Drug Des 2011; 78:85-93. [PMID: 21496212 DOI: 10.1111/j.1747-0285.2011.01099.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
A series of peptide analogs based on region 6-22 of Plantaricin 149 sequence were synthesized. The interaction between these analogs and phospholipid-polydiacetylene vesicles was investigated to evaluate the ability of the bioassay to detect differences in the interaction of the peptides with dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles, associated with amino acid substitution and N-terminal conjugation of the sequences with short fatty acids (8 and 12 carbon atoms). Fatty acid conjugation of peptides with low antimicrobial activity resulted in lipopeptides with improved activity against strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes. The length of the fatty acid determined the bacterial specificity, and the conjugation with n-octanoic acid yielded the most active analog (C8-CT) against Staphylococcus aureus strain (MIC: 1.0 μm) while the conjugation with n-dodecanoic acid (C12-CT) was optimal for Listeria monocytogenes strain (MIC: 2.0 μm). In contrast, the substitution of Phe by Trp had an unfavorable effect on the antimicrobial activity. Hemolysis tests and membrane interaction studies with dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine-polydiacetylene vesicles showed that lipopeptides interact to a greater extent with both biological and biomimetic membranes. Also, a good correlation was found between antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus strain and % colorimetric response values with dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol-polydiacetylene vesicles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alvaro Siano
- Departamento de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Bioquímica y Cs. Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral (U.N.L). Ciudad Universitaria, Santa Fe, Argentina
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