Antibacterial activity of crab haemocyanin against clinical pathogens

Abstract

The increasing antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria is a challenge that drives the development of new antibacterial substances. Marine inhabitants are excellent sources of antimicrobial proteins and considered as promising candidates for the treatment of microbial infections. In the present study, we obtained haemocyanin from Eriphia verrucosa and studied its potential to suppress the growth of some pathogenic bacteria and yeasts. The putative antibacterial molecules were isolated from the haemolymph by chromatography appropriate for producing the native haemocyanin (EvH) and its five structural units (SUs). The results showed that EvH had no antimicrobial activity unlike its glycosylated SUs. All haemocyanin SUs exhibited differential antibacterial activity depending on their grade of glycosylation. The strongest antimicrobial activity of SU1 (with highest carbohydrate content) was against Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. The least glycosylated SU3 and SU4 exhibited the lowest antimicrobial activity against all strains. The fraction SU1 has the potential to be applied as a substitute for some commonly used antibiotics. It was demonstrated that the grade of haemocyanin glycosylation plays an important role in its functional antibacterial properties.

Molecular Cloning, Structure and Phylogenetic Analysis of a Hemocyanin Subunit from the Black Sea Crustacean Eriphia verrucosa (Crustacea, Malacostraca)

“…The studies on sequence diversity of this class of proteins and their subunit composition are mostly related to crustacean adaptation to environmental challenges. In recent years, the research on the structure of Hc in arthropods like in mollusks is also focused on the presence of N- and O-glycans, which are a prerequisite for their usage as therapeutic agents in bacterial, viral, and cancer treatment because many glycans act as receptors for bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens [ 51 , 52 , 53 ].…”

“…The importance of O-glycosylation of EvHc5 was confirmed by antimicrobial assay of the subunits 1–5 isolated from the native Hc of E. verrucosa [ 52 ]. The authors reported the potential of subunit 1, 2, and 5 to be used as substitutes of some commonly used antibiotics to which bacterial resistance has been developed like E. coli and B. subtilis and other bacterial pathogens ( S. epidermidis , S. enterica , S. aureus , and P. aeruginosa ).…”

“…Glycosylation is frequently observed in crustacean hemocyanins [27,[50][51][52][53]. The native hemocyanin isolated from E. verrucosa is glycosylated but the concentration of monosaccharides is very low [54].…”

Destabilization of β‐Hemocyanin from Helix pomatia in Presence of Choline Amino Acids Results in Improved Cell Specificity and Cytotoxicity against Human Breast Cancer

“…[9] In addition to their application in cancer immunotherapy, some of the hemocyanins show potential as antibacterial and/or antiviral agents. [10,11,12] Despite that many hemocyanins were isolated and very well chemically and structurally characterized many years ago, their direct cytotoxic effect on various cancer cell lines have been scarcely studied. Few studies demonstrated that KHL added at a concentration of 500 μg/mL to estrogen-independent breast cancer cell lines (ZR75-1) and pancreatic cancer (PANC-1) inhibited the cell growth by 40% for 72 h. [13] It, however, had a weaker effect on the estrogen-dependent breast cancer cells (MCF-7) and androgen-independent prostate cancer cells (DU 145) for which was estimated a reduction of the cell viability only with 19% and 6%, respectively.…”

Jumping on the Edge—First Evidence for a 2 × 6-meric Hemocyanin in Springtails

“…Recent investigations also focused on the immunological properties of hemocyanin in arthropods. The antibacterial activity of malacostracean hemocyanin against clinical pathogens or molecular diversity changes of the white shrimp hemocyanin related to pathogen infection are current examples [17,18].…”