Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
Toxins (Basel). 2020 Dec 4;12(12):771. doi: 10.3390/toxins12120771.
The abuse of antibiotics and the consequent increase of drug-resistant bacteria constitute a serious threat to human health, and new antibiotics are urgently needed. Research shows that antimicrobial peptides produced by natural organisms are potential substitutes for antibiotics. Based on (known as five-pacer viper) genome bioinformatics analysis, we discovered a new cathelicidin antibacterial peptide which was called FP-CATH. Circular dichromatic analysis showed a typical helical structure. FP-CATH showed broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. It has antibacterial activity to Gram-negative bacteria and Gram-positive bacteria including methicillin-resistant (MRSA). The results of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that FP-CATH could cause the change of bacterial cell integrity, having a destructive effect on Gram-negative bacteria and inducing Gram-positive bacterial surface formation of vesicular structure. FP-CATH could bind to LPS and showed strong binding ability to bacterial DNA. In vivo, FP-CATH can improve the survival rate of nematodes in bacterial invasion experiments, and has a certain protective effect on nematodes. To sum up, FP-CATH is likely to play a role in multiple mechanisms of antibacterial action by impacting bacterial cell integrity and binding to bacterial biomolecules. It is hoped that the study of FP-CATH antibacterial mechanisms will prove useful for development of novel antibiotics.
抗生素的滥用以及由此导致的耐药菌的增加，对人类健康构成了严重威胁，因此急需新型抗生素。研究表明，天然生物产生的抗菌肽是抗生素的潜在替代品。基于（已知的五步蛇）基因组生物信息学分析，我们发现了一种新的抗菌肽 cathelicidin，命名为 FP-CATH。圆二色分析显示其具有典型的螺旋结构。FP-CATH 具有广谱抗菌活性，对革兰氏阴性菌和革兰氏阳性菌（包括耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA））均具有抗菌活性。透射电子显微镜（TEM）和扫描电子显微镜（SEM）的结果表明，FP-CATH 可导致细菌细胞完整性发生变化，对革兰氏阴性菌具有破坏性作用，并诱导革兰氏阳性菌表面形成泡状结构。FP-CATH 可以与 LPS 结合，并与细菌 DNA 表现出较强的结合能力。在体内，FP-CATH 可以提高线虫在细菌入侵实验中的存活率，并对线虫具有一定的保护作用。总之，FP-CATH 可能通过影响细菌细胞完整性和与细菌生物分子结合，在多种抗菌作用机制中发挥作用。希望对 FP-CATH 抗菌机制的研究能有助于开发新型抗生素。
