Comparison of the antibacterial properties of peptides from the hepatopancreas of red king crab and snow crab and development of an approach for red king crab peptide isolation from the hepatopancreas.

The hepatopancreas of crustaceans is an important immune organ involved in the secretion of immune effectors such as antimicrobial peptides. Crustacean antimicrobial peptides are very diverse and have a broad spectrum of activity, but are poorly explored. In this work, the activity of antibacterial peptides from the hepatopancreas of red king crab and snow crab was compared. Both peptides were found to be highly effective in inhibiting the growth of gram-positive bacteria. At the same time, the peptide from the red king crab was found to be highly sensitive to the presence of salt and a disulfide bond reducing agent, in contrast to the peptide from the snow crab. An approach for the chromatographic purification of the red king crab peptide from the hepatopancreas was developed. Both peptides are of interest for the development of novel antibacterial drugs.