Design, Recombinant Expression, and Antibacterial Activity of the Cecropins–Melittin Hybrid Antimicrobial Peptides

Abstract

In order to evaluate their antibacterial activities and toxicities, the cecropins-melittin hybrid antimicrobial peptide, CA(1-7)-M(4-11) (CAM) and CB(1-7)-M(4-11) (CBM), were designed by APD2 database. The recombinant hybrid antimicrobial peptides were successfully expressed and purified in Pichia pastoris. Antimicrobial activity assay showed that both of the two hybrid antimicrobial peptides had strong antibacterial abilities against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus thuringiensis, and Salmonella derby. The potency of CAM and CBM to E. coli 25922 were 0.862 and 0.849, respectively, slightly lower than Amp's 0.957. The hemolytic assays indicated CAM and CBM had no hemolytic in vivo and in vitro, and so they had a good application prospect.

In Vitro Activities of Antibiotics and Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides Alone and in Combination against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms

“…These hybrids formed ion-permeable channels in model lipid membranes. Hybrid peptides have improved antimicrobial activ- ities against Gram-positive bacteria, with a significant reduction of the toxicity that comes from melittin (2,29). Nisin, which is a 34-residue peptide that can be isolated from the nonpathogenic bacterium Lactococcus lactis, belongs to a special group of AMPs called bacteriocins that, because of containing unusual amino acids (lanthionine and methyl lanthionine residues), emerged as one of the most extensively studied lantibiotics.…”

Melittin: A Key Composition of Honey Bee Venom with Diverse Pharmaceutical Function

“…Thus, to obtain high purity and yield of melittin will be the key and difficult point for future research. Some scholars expected to obtain high yield and purity of melittin by biological fermentation engineering technology, their work suggested that more engineered expression systems should be develop to reduce the cost of acquiring melittin [43][44][45][46]. Secondly, Chemical modification of structure of melittin or combined with other protein could enhance the biological stability.…”

Membrane-active bacteriocins to control Salmonella in foods

“…In the same trend, even better hybrids were designed and produced in Pichia pastoris, with higher antimicrobial activity and no hemolytic activity. Therefore, a potential application was proposed (Cao et al, 2010).…”