Westerhoff H V, Juretić D, Hendler R W, Zasloff M
Laboratory of Molecular Biology, National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Sep;86(17):6597-601. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.17.6597.
Magainins, a family of positively charged peptides, are partly if not wholly responsible for antimicrobial activity in skin extracts of Xenopus laevis. We report here that members of the magainin family--i.e., the 21-amino acid peptide PGLa and the 23-amino acid peptide magainin 2 amide (PGSa)--dissipate the electric potential across various energy-transducing membranes and thus uncouple respiration from other free-energy-requiring processes. We propose that this is a likely mechanism for the antimicrobial effects of these compounds.
蛙皮抗菌肽是一类带正电荷的肽,爪蟾皮肤提取物中的抗菌活性即使不全由它们引起,至少也部分归因于它们。我们在此报告,蛙皮抗菌肽家族的成员,即21个氨基酸的肽PGLa和23个氨基酸的肽蛙皮抗菌肽2酰胺(PGSa),能消除各种能量转换膜上的电势,从而使呼吸与其他需要自由能的过程解偶联。我们认为这可能是这些化合物产生抗菌作用的机制。