Marín-Parra Claudia, Serna-Duque Jhon Alberto, Espinosa-Ruiz Cristóbal, Albadalejo-Riad Nora, Bardera Guillermo, Thompson Kim, Esteban María Ángeles
Immunobiology for Aquaculture Group, Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia, 30100, Murcia, Spain.
Aquaculture and Animal Production Technology Department. Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Research and Development of Murcia (IMIDA), 30150, Murcia, Spain.
Fish Shellfish Immunol. 2025 Oct;165:110501. doi: 10.1016/j.fsi.2025.110501. Epub 2025 Jun 13.
Researchers have shown considerable interest in host defense peptides (HDPs) as potential antibiotic alternatives due to their antimicrobial and immunomodulatory characteristics. Piscidins (Pisc), a group of α-helical peptides found exclusively in teleost fish, demonstrate potential for enhancing the health and well-being of aquaculture species. This research examined two piscidins (Pisc1 and Pisc2), identified in the gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) genome, which exhibit unique physicochemical and structural features. Pisc1 demonstrated strong antioxidant properties and its minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were established against various bacterial species, including Streptococcus agalactiae, Vibrio harveyi, V. anguillarum, V. alginolyticus, Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida, Aeromonas salmonicida (2014), and Flavobacterium psychrophilum. Additionally, Pisc1 was found to disrupt both outer and inner membranes of V. harveyi and showed antiparasitic effects against Neoparamoeba perurans. While Pisc1 exhibited hemolytic and cytotoxic properties, it did not impact chemotaxis of SAF-1 cells in the in vitro scratch assay. However, Pisc1 triggered extracellular traps (ETs) of head kidney leucocytes, underscoring its dual role as an antimicrobial agent and immunomodulator. In contrast, Pisc2 showed lower antioxidant activity, and no MICs were identified for the tested bacterial species. Nevertheless, Pisc2 could disrupt the outer membrane of V. harveyi and also displayed antiparasitic activity. Unlike Pisc1, Pisc2 was neither hemolytic nor cytotoxic and did not induce ETs or affect in vitro wound healing assay results. These findings provide valuable insights for the development of novel therapies in aquaculture based on HDPs use.
由于其抗菌和免疫调节特性，研究人员对宿主防御肽（HDPs）作为潜在的抗生素替代品表现出了浓厚兴趣。鲷科抗菌肽（Piscidins，Pisc）是一类仅在硬骨鱼中发现的α-螺旋肽，显示出增强水产养殖物种健康和福祉的潜力。本研究检测了在金头鲷（Sparus aurata）基因组中鉴定出的两种鲷科抗菌肽（Pisc1和Pisc2），它们具有独特的物理化学和结构特征。Pisc1表现出强大的抗氧化特性，并确定了其对多种细菌的最低抑菌浓度（MICs），包括无乳链球菌、哈维氏弧菌、鳗弧菌、溶藻弧菌、美人鱼发光杆菌杀鱼亚种、杀鲑气单胞菌（2014年）和嗜冷黄杆菌。此外，发现Pisc1可破坏哈维氏弧菌的外膜和内膜，并对秘鲁新阿米巴虫显示出抗寄生虫作用。虽然Pisc1表现出溶血和细胞毒性特性，但在体外划痕试验中它对SAF-1细胞的趋化性没有影响。然而，Pisc1触发了头肾白细胞的细胞外陷阱（ETs），突出了其作为抗菌剂和免疫调节剂的双重作用。相比之下，Pisc2的抗氧化活性较低，且未确定对所测试细菌物种的最低抑菌浓度。尽管如此，Pisc2可破坏哈维氏弧菌的外膜，也表现出抗寄生虫活性。与Pisc1不同，Pisc2既无溶血作用也无细胞毒性，不诱导细胞外陷阱，也不影响体外伤口愈合试验结果。这些发现为基于宿主防御肽的水产养殖新疗法的开发提供了有价值的见解。
