Special Laboratory for Applied Toxinology (LETA), Butantan Institute, São Paulo CEP 05503-900, SP, Brazil.
Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo CEP 05508-900, SP, Brazil.
Toxins (Basel). 2019 Sep 6;11(9):517. doi: 10.3390/toxins11090517.
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are small molecules, which have a potential use as antibiotic or pharmacological tools. In chelicerate organisms, such as scorpions, these molecules constitute an alternative defense system against microorganisms. The aim of this work was to identify AMPs in the hemolymph of the scorpion. Fractions of plasma and hemocytes were subjected to high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and then analyzed to determine their activity in inhibiting microbial growth. One of the fractions from the hemocytes presents antimicrobial activity against microorganisms, such as Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, fungi, and yeast. These fractions were analyzed by mass spectrometry, and a fragment of 3564 Da. was identified. The peptide was called serrulin, because it is derived from the species . A comparison of the amino acid sequence of serrulin with databases shows that it has a similarity to the glycine-rich peptides described in and (spiders). Furthermore, serrulin has no hemolytic activity against human erythrocytes. While the presence of AMPs in venom has been described in other works, this is the first work to characterize the presence of these molecules in the hemolymph (hemocytes) of this species and show its potential use as an alternative to conventional antibiotics against different species of microorganisms.
抗菌肽（AMPs）是小分子，具有作为抗生素或药理学工具的潜力。在螯肢动物中，如蝎子，这些分子构成了针对微生物的替代防御系统。本工作的目的是鉴定 蝎血液中的 AMPs。血浆和血细胞的分数进行高效液相色谱（HPLC）分析，然后分析其抑制微生物生长的活性。血细胞的一个分数对微生物（如革兰氏阴性和革兰氏阳性细菌、真菌和酵母）具有抗菌活性。这些分数通过质谱分析，并鉴定出 3564 Da 的片段。该肽被称为 serrulin，因为它来自 物种。将 serrulin 的氨基酸序列与数据库进行比较表明，它与在 和 （蜘蛛）中描述的富含甘氨酸的肽具有相似性。此外，serrulin 对人红细胞没有溶血活性。虽然在其他工作中已经描述了 AMPs 在 毒液中的存在，但这是首次描述这些分子在该物种血液（血细胞）中的存在，并展示了它们作为对抗不同微生物物种的常规抗生素的替代物的潜在用途。
