Thanatin is a cationic 21-residue antimicrobial and antifongical peptide found in the spined soldier bug Podisus maculiventris. It is believed that it does not permeabilize membranes but rather induces the agglutination of bacteria and inhibits cellular respiration. To clarify its mode of action, lipid vesicle organization and aggregation propensity as well as peptide secondary structure have been studied using different membrane models. Dynamic light scattering and turbidimetry results show that specific mixtures of negatively charged and zwitterionic phospholipid vesicles are able to mimic the agglutination effect of thanatin observed on Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial cells, while monoconstituent ("conventional") models cannot reproduce this phenomenon. The model of eukaryotic cell reveals no particular interaction with thanatin, which is consistent with the literature. Infrared spectroscopy shows that under the conditions under which vesicle agglutination occurs, thanatin exhibits a particular spectral pattern in the amide I' region and in the region associated with Arg side chains. The data suggest that thanatin mainly retains its hairpin structure, Arg residues being involved in strong interactions with anionic groups of phospholipids. In the absence of vesicle agglutination, the peptide conformation and Arg side-chain environment are similar to those observed in solution. The data show that a negatively charged membrane is required for thanatin to be active, but this condition is insufficient. The activity of thanatin seems to be modulated by the charge surface density of membranes and thanatin concentration.

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Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are important molecules for the innate immune defense system of plants and animals. The antimicrobial peptide Hylina1 (Hya1) was isolated from arboreal South African frog Hypsiboas albopunctatus. In this work, we investigate the interaction of an analogue peptide, K-Hya1 (KIFGAIWPLALGALKNLIK-NH2) with model membranes composed of DPPC (dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine), DPPG dipalmitoyl phosphatidylglycerol) and DPPC:DPPG 1:1 or of POPC (palmitoyl oleoyl phosphatidylcholine) and POPC:POPG (palmitoyl oleoyl phosphatidylglycerol) with different techniques. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) profiles show distinct environments in the bilayer with anionic lipids, suggesting a disturbed region due to peptide adsorption, and an unaltered region. On the other hand, in neutral membranes an average perturbation is observed, which suggests a superficial interaction. Steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy of the intrinsic Trp residue shows a deeper insertion of this residue into charged bilayers as compared with neutral membranes. Dye-leakage experiments show that membrane charge also modulates the kinetics of membrane permeabilization, which is much faster for charged bilayers. Optical microscopy of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) in the fluid phase revealed a different mechanism of action of the peptide in the presence or absence of negatively charged lipids. K-Hya1 induces small perturbations in POPC vesicles, causing membrane permeabilization without morphological changes. On the other hand, the peptide induces permeabilization accompanied by a large increase in surface area of POPC:POPG vesicles, suggesting the opening of several pores in the bilayer. Taken together, the results clearly show a peptide-bilayer interaction modulated by the presence of negatively charged lipids. Data can be interpreted as a different orientation of the peptide in the bilayer: parallel to the surface in neutral membranes and stable and crossed in anionic membranes.