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Paes LCF, Lima DB, Silva DMAD, Valentin JT, Aquino PEAD, García-Jareño AB, Orzaéz M, Fonteles MMDF, Martins AMC. Exploring the neuroprotective potential of antimicrobial peptides from Dinoponera quadriceps venom against pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures in vivo. Toxicon 2024; 237:107538. [PMID: 38030096 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2023.107538] [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] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2023] [Revised: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
Epilepsy affects around 50 million people worldwide and 30% of patients have difficulty controlling the disease. The search for substances that can fill the existing gaps in the treatment of epilepsy is of great importance. Arthropod venoms are promising sources for this purpose due to the presence of small peptides that modulate the activity of ion channels and neuron receptors. The aim of this study was to investigate dinoponeratoxins from the Dinoponera quadriceps ant venom (M-PONTX-Dq3a, M-PONTX-Dq3b and M-PONTX-Dq3c) as potential anticonvulsants. We evaluated them in a seizure model induced by pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) in male swiss mice. Interestingly, intraperitoneal treatment with each peptide increased the time until the first seizure and the percentage of survival, with M-PONTX-Dq3b showing the best results. M-PONTX-Dq3a was discarded due to the appearance of some signs of toxicity with the increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in the striatum. Both, M-PONTX-Dq3b and M-PONTX-Dq3c decreased iNOS and TNF-α in the hippocampus. Notably, M-PONTX-Dq3c treatment decreased the levels of MDA and nitrite in the cortex and hippocampus. Our results indicate that, M-PONTX-Dq3b and M-PONTX-Dq3c have anticonvulsant activity and exhibit anti-inflammatory effects in epilepsy, offering new perspectives for biopharmaceutical development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Livia Correia Fernandes Paes
- Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade Federal Do Ceará, Fortaleza, 60430372, Ceará, Brazil
| | - Dânya Bandeira Lima
- Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade Federal Do Ceará, Fortaleza, 60430372, Ceará, Brazil.
| | - Daniel Moreira Alves da Silva
- Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade Federal Do Ceará, Fortaleza, 60430372, Ceará, Brazil
| | - José Tiago Valentin
- Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade Federal Do Ceará, Fortaleza, 60430372, Ceará, Brazil
| | | | - Alicia Belén García-Jareño
- Targeted Therapies on Cancer and Inflammation Lab and Peptide Synthesis Platform, Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, Valencia, 46012, Spain
| | - Mar Orzaéz
- Targeted Therapies on Cancer and Inflammation Lab and Peptide Synthesis Platform, Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, Valencia, 46012, Spain
| | - Marta Maria de França Fonteles
- Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade Federal Do Ceará, Fortaleza, 60430372, Ceará, Brazil; Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, 60430-275, Ceará, Brazil
| | - Alice Maria Costa Martins
- Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade Federal Do Ceará, Fortaleza, 60430372, Ceará, Brazil; Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, 60430-275, Ceará, Brazil.
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Monteiro ML, Lima DB, Freire KA, Nicolaski Pedron C, Magalhães EP, Silva BP, García-Jareño AB, Silva Oliveira C, Nunes JVS, Marinho MM, Menezes RRPPBD, Orzaéz M, Oliveira Junior VX, Martins AMC. Rational design of a trypanocidal peptide derived from Dinoponera quadriceps venom. Eur J Med Chem 2022; 241:114624. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2022.114624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2022] [Revised: 07/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Rocha LQ, Orzaéz M, García-Jareño AB, Nunes JVS, Duque BR, Sampaio TL, Alves RS, Lima DB, Martins AMC. Dinoponera quadriceps venom as a source of active agents against Staphylococcus aureus. Toxicon 2020; 189:33-38. [PMID: 33188823 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2020.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2020] [Revised: 10/28/2020] [Accepted: 11/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus is a highly virulent pathogen, capable of biofilm formation and responsible for thousands of deaths each year. The prevalence of Methicillin-Resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains has increased in recent years and thus, the development of new antibiotics has become necessary. Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs) are effective against a variety of multidrug-resistant bacteria and low levels of resistance have been reported regarding these molecules. Dinoponera quadriceps ant venom (DqV) has been described regarding its effect against S. aureus. In this study, we have evaluated the antibacterial effect of DqV-AMPs, the dinoponeratoxins (DNTxs), against Methicillin-Sensitive and a Methicillin-Resistant S. aureus strains. Our results show DNTx M-PONTX-Dq3a as a potent inhibitor of both strains, being able to prevent biofilm formation at low micromolar range (0.78-3.12 μM). It also showed a short-time effect through membrane disruption. M-PONTX-Dq3a opens up new perspectives for the prevention of biofilm formation through the development of anti-adhesive surface coatings on medical devices, as well as the treatment of resistant strains in skin or soft tissue infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Larissa Queiroz Rocha
- Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil
| | - Mar Orzaéz
- Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, Valencia, Spain
| | | | - Joao Victor Serra Nunes
- Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil
| | - Bruna Ribeiro Duque
- Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil
| | - Tiago Lima Sampaio
- Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil
| | - Renata Sousa Alves
- Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil
| | - Dânya Bandeira Lima
- Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil
| | - Alice Maria Costa Martins
- Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
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