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Abengózar MÁ, Fernández-Reyes M, Salazar VA, Torrent M, de la Torre BG, Andreu D, Boix E, Rivas L. Essential Role of Enzymatic Activity in the Leishmanicidal Mechanism of the Eosinophil Cationic Protein (RNase 3). ACS Infect Dis 2022; 8:1207-1217. [PMID: 35731709 PMCID: PMC9274760 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.1c00537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
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The recruitment of
eosinophils into Leishmania lesions is frequently
associated with a favorable evolution. A feasible
effector for this process is eosinophil cationic protein (ECP, RNase
3), one of the main human eosinophil granule proteins, endowed with
a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity, including parasites. ECP
was active on Leishmania promastigotes and axenic
amastigotes (LC50’s = 3 and 16 μM, respectively)
but, in contrast to the irreversible membrane damage caused on bacteria
and reproduced by its N-terminal peptides, it only
induced a mild and transient plasma membrane destabilization on Leishmania donovani promastigotes. To assess the
contribution of RNase activity to the overall leishmanicidal activity
of ECP, parasites were challenged in parallel with a single-mutant
version, ECP-H15A, devoid of RNase activity, that fully preserves
the conformation and liposome permeabilization ability. ECP-H15A showed
a similar uptake to ECP on promastigotes, but with higher LC50’s (>25 μM) for both parasite stages. ECP-treated
promastigotes
showed a degraded RNA pattern, absent in ECP-H15A-treated samples.
Moreover ECP, but not ECP-H15A, reduced more than 2-fold the parasite
burden of infected macrophages. Altogether, our results suggest that
ECP enters the Leishmania cytoplasm by an endocytic
pathway, ultimately leading to RNA degradation as a key contribution
to the leishmanicidal mechanism. Thus, ECP combines both membrane
destabilization and enzymatic activities to effect parasite killing.
Taken together, our data highlight the microbicidal versatility of
ECP as an innate immunity component and support the development of
cell-penetrating RNases as putative leishmanicidal agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Ángeles Abengózar
- Department of Structural and Chemical Biology, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas, Ramiro de Maeztu 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - María Fernández-Reyes
- Department of Structural and Chemical Biology, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas, Ramiro de Maeztu 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Vivian A Salazar
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biosciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Universidad de los Andes, Cra. 1E No. 19a-40, Bogota, Colorado 111711, Colombia
| | - Marc Torrent
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biosciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
| | - Beatriz G de la Torre
- Department of Medicine and Life Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - David Andreu
- Department of Medicine and Life Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ester Boix
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biosciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
| | - Luis Rivas
- Department of Structural and Chemical Biology, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas, Ramiro de Maeztu 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain
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Staderini M, Piquero M, Abengózar MÁ, Nachér-Vázquez M, Romanelli G, López-Alvarado P, Rivas L, Bolognesi ML, Menéndez JC. Structure-activity relationships and mechanistic studies of novel mitochondria-targeted, leishmanicidal derivatives of the 4-aminostyrylquinoline scaffold. Eur J Med Chem 2019; 171:38-53. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2019.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2018] [Revised: 02/08/2019] [Accepted: 03/04/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Silva T, Abengózar MÁ, Fernández-Reyes M, Andreu D, Nazmi K, Bolscher JGM, Bastos M, Rivas L. Enhanced leishmanicidal activity of cryptopeptide chimeras from the active N1 domain of bovine lactoferrin. Amino Acids 2012; 43:2265-77. [PMID: 22543751 DOI: 10.1007/s00726-012-1304-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2012] [Accepted: 04/17/2012] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Two antimicrobial cryptopeptides from the N1 domain of bovine lactoferrin, lactoferricin (LFcin17-30) and lactoferrampin (LFampin265-284), together with a hybrid version (LFchimera), were tested against the protozoan parasite Leishmania. All peptides were leishmanicidal against Leishmania donovani promastigotes, and LFchimera showed a significantly higher activity over its two composing moieties. Besides, it was the only peptide active on Leishmania pifanoi axenic amastigotes, already showing activity below 10 μM. To investigate their leishmanicidal mechanism, promastigote membrane permeabilization was assessed by decrease of free ATP levels in living parasites, entrance of the vital dye SYTOX Green (MW = 600 Da) and confocal and transmission electron microscopy. The peptides induced plasma membrane permeabilization and bioenergetic collapse of the parasites. To further clarify the structural traits underlying the increased leishmanicidal activity of LFchimera, the activity of several analogues was assessed. Results revealed that the high activity of these hybrid peptides seems to be related to the order and sequence orientation of the two cryptopeptide moieties, rather than to their particular linkage through an additional lysine, as in the initial LFchimera. The incorporation of both antimicrobial cryptopeptide motifs into a single linear sequence facilitates chemical synthesis and should help in the potential clinical application of these optimized analogues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tânia Silva
- Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Centro Investigação em Química CIQ(UP), Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal
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