Study of structure-activity relationship in Aurein 1.2 analogs

Alanine Scanning Studies of the Antimicrobial Peptide Aurein 1.2

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are compounds widely distributed in nature that display activity against a broad spectrum of pathogens. Amphibian skin, as an organ rich in pharmacologically active peptides, appears to be an interesting source of novel AMPs. Aurein 1.2 (GLFDIIKKIAESF-NH₂) is a short 13-residue antimicrobial peptide primarily isolated from the skin secretions of Australian bell frogs. In this study, the alanine scan of aurein 1.2 was performed to investigate the effect of each amino acid residue on its biological and physico-chemical properties. The biological studies included determination of minimum inhibitory concentration, activity against biofilm, and inhibitory effect on its formation. Moreover, the hemolytic activity as well as serum stability was determined. The hydrophobicity of peptides and their self-assembly were investigated using reversed-phase chromatography. In addition, their helicity was calculated from circular dichroism spectra. The results not only provided information on structure-activity relationship of aurein 1.2 but also gave insights into design of novel analogs of AMPs in the future.

Incorporation of β-Amino Acids Enhances the Antifungal Activity and Selectivity of the Helical Antimicrobial Peptide Aurein 1.2

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are attractive antifungal drug candidates because they kill microbes via membrane disruption and are thus unlikely to provoke development of resistance. Low selectivity for fungal vs human cells and instability in physiological environments have limited the development of AMPs as therapeutics, but peptidomimetic AMPs can overcome these obstacles and also provide useful insight into AMP structure-function relationships. Here, we describe antifungal peptidomimetic α/β-peptides templated on the natural α-peptidic AMP aurein 1.2. These α/β-aurein analogs fold into i → i + 4 H-bonded helices that present arrays of side chain functionality in a manner virtually identical to that of aurein 1.2. By varying charge, hydrophobicity, conformational stability, and α/β-amino acid organization, we designed active and selective α/β-peptide aurein analogs that exhibit minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) against the opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans that are 4-fold lower than that of aurein 1.2 and elicit less than 5% hemolysis at the MIC. These α/β-aurein analogs are promising candidates for development as antifungal therapeutics and as tools to elucidate mechanisms of AMP activity and specificity.

Aurein 2.3 functionality is supported by oblique orientated α-helical formation

In this study, an amphibian antimicrobial peptide, aurein 2.3, was predicted to use oblique orientated α-helix formation in its mechanism of membrane destabilisation. Molecular dynamic (MD) simulations and circular dichroism (CD) experimental data suggested that aurein 2.3 exists in solution as unstructured monomers and folds to form predominantly α-helical structures in the presence of a dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine membrane. MD showed that the peptide was highly surface active, which supported monolayer data where the peptide induced surface pressure changes>34 mNm(-1). In the presence of a lipid membrane MD simulations suggested that under hydrophobic mismatch the peptide is seen to insert via oblique orientation with a phenylalanine residue (PHE3) playing a key role in the membrane interaction. There is evidence of snorkelling leucine residues leading to further membrane disruption and supporting the high level of lysis observed using calcein release assays (76%). Simulations performed at higher peptide/lipid ratio show peptide cooperativity is key to increased efficiency leading to pore-formation.