Lipid transfer proteins from Brassica campestris and mung bean surpass mung bean chitinase in exploitability

Abstract

Antifungal peptides with a molecular mass of 9 kDa and an N-terminal sequence demonstrating remarkable similarity to those of nonspecific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTPs) were isolated from seeds of the vegetable Brassica campestris and the mung bean. The purified peptides exerted an inhibitory action on mycelial growth in various fungal species. The antifungal activity of Brassica and mung bean nsLTPs were thermostable, pH-stable, and stable after treatment with pepsin and trypsin. In contrast, the antifungal activity of mung bean chitinase was much less stable to changes in pH and temperature. Brassica LTP inhibited proliferation of hepatoma Hep G2 cells and breast cancer MCF 7 cells with an IC(50) of 5.8 and 1.6 microM, respectively, and the activity of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase with an IC(50) of 4 microM. However, mung bean LTP and chitinase were devoid of antiproliferative and HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitory activities. In contrast to the mung bean LTP, which exhibited antibacterial activity, Brassica LTP was inactive. All three antifungal peptides lacked mitogenic activity toward splenocytes. These results indicate that the two LTPs have more desirable activities than the chitinase and that there is a dissociation between the antifungal and other activities of these antifungal proteins.

Proteinase Inhibitor from Ginkgo Seeds Is a Member of the Plant Nonspecific Lipid Transfer Protein Gene Family

“…Such proteins so far have been isolated from a lot of plants (e.g. Jégou et al, 2000;Douliez et al, 2001;Lin et al, 2007) and are proposed to be involved in defense, pollination, and germination, although the biological function remains to be elucidated (Kader, 1996). Here, to provide new insights into the physiological function of nsLTP1 from ginkgo, we examined the lipid transfer/binding, antifungal/antibacterial properties, and the gene expression pattern in different tissues.…”

Purification and characterization of a novel antifungal protein with antiproliferation and anti-HIV-1 reverse transcriptase activities from <italic>Peganum harmala</italic> seeds

“…Similarly, motherwort LTP retained 78% of its activity at 858C for 10 min [41]. Brassica campestris LTP showed higher thermostability (from 20 to 1008C) and pH stability (from pH 0-4, pH 9-14) [13]. It is probably due to the existence of their several disulfide bridge structures [41,42].…”

“…In the present study, PHP exerted anti-proliferation activity against several cancer cell lines including Eca-109, HeLa, MGC, and B16 cells with relatively high potency. It is similar to other nsLTPs which can inhibit the proliferation of different cancer cell lines [13,23], although some nsLTPs, such as mung bean nsLTP does not have this activity [13].…”

“…Some reports showed that the nsLTPs isolated from Brassica campestris, mung bean, and wheat had antifungal activities [13,22,35]. Similar to these nsLTPs, PHP also had remarkable antifungal activity and inhibited the mycelial growth in a number of fungal species.…”

“…There are two types of 1ipid transfer proteins, namely, specific 1ipid transfer protein (sLTP) and non-specific 1ipid transfer protein (nsLTP) [7]. The nsLTPs have been isolated from different plants, including corn [8], rice [9], castor beans [10], millet [6], onion [11], cowpea [12], Chinese cabbage [13], spinach [14], tangerine [15], radish [16], peach [17], and Arabidopsis [18], etc. They have attracted the attention of many researchers due to their specific features.…”