Wynendaele Evelien, Gevaert Bert, Stalmans Sofie, Verbeke Frederick, De Spiegeleer Bart
Drug Quality and Registration (DruQuaR) Group, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, Ottergemsesteenweg 460, Ghent, 9000, Belgium.
Biopolymers. 2015 Sep;104(5):544-51. doi: 10.1002/bip.22649.
Quorum sensing peptides are signalling molecules that are produced by mainly gram-positive bacteria. These peptides can exert different effects, ranging from intra- and interspecies bacterial virulence to bacterial-host interactions. To better comprehend these functional differences, we explored their chemical space, bacterial species distribution and receptor-binding properties using multivariate data analyses, with information obtained from the Quorumpeps database. The quorum sensing peptides can be categorized into three main clusters, which, in turn, can be divided into several subclusters: the classification is based on characteristic chemical properties, including peptide size/compactness, hydrophilicity/lipophilicity, cyclization and the presence of (unnatural) S-containing and aromatic amino acids. Most of the bacterial species synthesize peptides located into one cluster. However, some Streptococcus, Stapylococcus, Clostridium, Bacillus and Lactobacillus species produce peptides that are distributed over more than one cluster, with the quorum sensing peptides of Bacillus subtilis even occupying the total peptide space. The AgrC, FsrC and LamC receptors are only activated by cyclic (thio)lacton or lactam quorum sensing peptides, while the lipophilic isoprenyl-modified peptides solely bind the ComP receptor in Bacillus species.
群体感应肽是主要由革兰氏阳性菌产生的信号分子。这些肽可以发挥不同的作用，从种内和种间细菌毒力到细菌与宿主的相互作用。为了更好地理解这些功能差异，我们利用多变量数据分析，结合从Quorumpeps数据库获得的信息，探索了它们的化学空间、细菌物种分布和受体结合特性。群体感应肽可分为三个主要簇，进而又可分为几个子簇：分类基于特征化学性质，包括肽的大小/紧凑性、亲水性/疏水性、环化以及（非天然）含硫和芳香族氨基酸的存在。大多数细菌物种合成的肽位于一个簇中。然而，一些链球菌、葡萄球菌、梭菌、芽孢杆菌和乳杆菌物种产生的肽分布在多个簇中，枯草芽孢杆菌的群体感应肽甚至占据了整个肽空间。AgrC、FsrC和LamC受体仅被环状（硫）内酯或内酰胺群体感应肽激活，而亲脂性异戊二烯修饰的肽仅在芽孢杆菌属中与ComP受体结合。
