Thionin Thi2.1 from Arabidopsis thaliana expressed in endothelial cells shows antibacterial, antifungal and cytotoxic activity

Abstract

Thionins are plant antimicrobial peptides with antibacterial and antifungal activities. Thionin Thi2.1 cDNA from Arabidopsis thaliana was expressed in BVE-E6E7 bovine endothelial cell line and its activity was evaluated against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans and different mammal cell lines. Total protein (2.5 microg) from conditioned medium (CM) of clone EC-Thi2.1 inhibited the growth of E. coli, S. aureus (>90%) and C. albicans strains (>80%) in relation to the CM from control cells. Also, CM of EC-Thi2.1 inhibited the viability of several transformed and normal mammal cell lines (38-95%). These results suggest that thionin Thi2.1 is an antimicrobial peptide that could be use in the treatment of mammalian infectious diseases.

Anticancer Peptides: Prospective Innovation in Cancer Therapy

“…(2015) HNP-1 Human DNA breakdown and cell collapse Gaspar et al (2015) Thionins are small cysteine-rich peptides with diversified activities, in addition to being antimicrobial. They help seed maturation and germination and have roles in signal transduction (Stec 2006), and some of them, such as pyrularia, Thi2.1, and β-purothionin have cytotoxic activity against cervical, lung, and breast cancers (Evans et al 1989;Hughes et al 2000;Loeza-Angeles et al 2008). In some cases, anticancer effects are based on changes on Ca 2+ influx that depolarize the cellular membrane (Evans et al 1989), but for others remain unknown (Loeza-Angeles et al 2008).…”

New Antimicrobial Agents of Plant Origin

“…In vitro thionins are toxic at micromolar concentrations to a wide range of organisms from bacteria and fungi to protozoa and human cells (Fujimura et al 2005;Loeza-Ángeles et al 2008;Berrocal-Lobo et al 2009). Thionins have been found in both seeds and vegetative organs, such as leaves and stems (Stec 2006).…”

“…However, the broad-spectrum toxicity of these peptides has to be taken into account, as is the case too with the possibility of using thionins to treat infectious human diseases. An Arabidopsis thionin was found to be active against human pathogens, both bacterial and fungal, but it also reduced the viability of mammalian cells (Loeza-Ángeles et al 2008). The same is likely to be the case for a wheat thionin that has shown strong activity against the protozoan parasite responsible for human leishmaniasis (Berrocal-Lobo et al 2009).…”

Antimicrobial Peptides: Diversity and Perspectives for Their Biomedical Application

“…In the case of plant biotechnology transgenic plants resistant to diseases and pests have been produced through the introduction of AMPs genes from other plant species or even human defensins have been expressed in experimental models, and a better response to the attack of fungal pathogens has been observed (Aerts et al, 2007). Moreover, through biotechnological approaches, plant defensins and thionins have been expressed in mammalian cells in our working group; which showed activity against bacteria, fungi and tumor cells (Anaya-López et al, 2006;Loeza-Ángeles et al, 2008). Among the studies that have been done with transgenic animals, those that demonstrate the protection conferred by human lactoferrin expressed in bovine mammary gland, conveying a delayed onset of clinical signs and inflammation caused by intramammary bacteria, stand out (Simojoki et al, 2010).…”