抗菌肽基因工程研究及其表达策略

抗菌肽广泛存在于多种生物体内,具有广谱抗菌、调节免疫、抑制肿瘤等多种生物学功能,作用机制独特,是目前基因工程研究的热点之一。本文综述了抗菌肽的一般性质及其国内外基因工程研究进展,探讨了在抗菌肽转基因研究中采用的表达策略及理论依据。     

抗菌肽的基因工程研究进展

近年来细菌耐药性问题日趋严峻,寻找新型抗生素已迫在眉睫。抗菌肽是生物体产生的一种阳离子短肽,具有天然的抗菌活性。由于抗菌肽具有与传统抗生素不同的作用机制,不产生耐药性,因而具有重要的临床应用价值。但实践表明,抗菌肽的开发并非易事。针对近年来抗菌肽开发的基因工程策略和实践,尤其是大肠杆菌表达系统和酵母表达系统,进行了简要综述。     

基因工程菌生产氨基酸的研究进展

利用基因工程菌合成氨基酸是目前氨基酸生产研究的热点。本研究对基因工程菌生产氨基酸进行分析,为氨基酸工业化生产提供参考价值。阐述了氨基酸生产存在光学活性和效益差等现状以及固定化技术在应用生产中的价值,介绍基因工程定向诱变微生物发酵生产L-氨基酸的技术,分析基因工程菌培养中存在的问题,并对近些年来利用基因工程菌生产氨基酸的进展进行了综述。     

棘胸蛙抗菌肽Spinosan-C的串联表达与活性检测

为克服抗菌肽易被蛋白酶降解及对宿主大肠杆菌的杀伤作用,并进一步提高大肠杆菌系统的表达能力,以棘胸蛙Paa spinosa抗菌肽Spinosan-C为研究对象,按照大肠杆菌密码子利用频率进行密码子优化,设计合成8拷贝的串联8×Spinosan-C基因,将合成的串联基因克隆到大肠杆菌表达载体p ET-28a,利用大肠杆菌感受态细胞Rosetta进行原核表达,获得高效表达的串联8×Spinosan-C重组蛋白,用甲酸专一性切割得到抗菌肽Spinosan-C单体。体外抑菌试验表明,切割后的抗菌肽Spinosan-C单体对测试菌生长具有抑制作用,为蛙类抗菌肽的规模化制备提供了参考。     

植酸酶基因工程菌构建及其生产应用中问题分析

简要分析了植酸酶的生物学特性以及构建植酸酶基因工程菌和酶生产应用中存在的问题,提出了对植酸酶基因的重组改造、载体表达宿主筛选的方法和途径,以求构建高效表达、高活性和高稳定性的酶基因工程菌,促进酶的生产和应用。     

非随机方法构建酿酒酵母基因工程菌

酿酒酵母是基因工程产品研究和生产的一个重要表达系统,表达载体和宿主细胞是构成表达系统的两大要素,虽然外源基因表达的方式、强度主要由表达载体控制．但宿主细胞的选择对最终获取产品的质量和数量也具有十分关键的作用。酿酒酵母基因工程宿主菌除要求具有高的DNA转化效率、细胞生长密度和稳定性、低的内源蛋白水解酶活性外,还必须具备与表达载体相对应的营养缺陷筛选标记,用传统随机诱变方法得到的营养缺陷变异株,因含有本底和隐性突变,在细胞生长密度和稳定性方面往往不能满足基因工程产品研究和生产的要求,甚至不能有效地表达外源基因。本文报道用重组技术,通过非随机方法构建了酿酒酵母基因工程宿主茁。研究表明用该方法得到的宿主菌在细胞生长密度、稳定性和表达外源基因方面优于用传统随机诱变方法得到的宿主菌。     

基因工程菌发酵研究进展

基因工程菌发酵主要目标是获取高产外源基因表达蛋白。介绍并分析了基因工程菌发酵过程中表达系统、培养基、温度、pH值、溶解氧和诱导条件等因素对发酵的影响;论述了工程菌高密度培养所需的培养方式,并总结了基因工程菌发酵领域近年来的一些进展。     

昆虫抗菌肽基因工程及其分子设计研究进展(英文)

昆虫抗菌肽是昆虫免疫后存在于血淋巴中的一类活性肽,具有广谱抗菌的生物活性,因而昆虫抗菌肽基因工程迅速成为生命科学领域的研究热点之一.介绍了昆虫抗菌肽的基因结构和表达,综述了昆虫抗菌肽的人工合成与改造以及转基因工程的研究成果,概述了昆虫抗菌肽的分子设计方法和现状,并展望了昆虫抗菌肽的应用前景.     

颗粒裂解肽G13结构域的重组表达及蛋白质结构预测

基因工程构建表达是获得抗菌肽的一种成本较低的方法,本实验人工合成G13结构域编码DNA序列,PCR扩增后,用T-A克隆法与pBAD/TOPO ThioFusion表达载体连接,通过PCR鉴定筛选出正确重组质粒,在大肠杆菌Top10中对目的蛋白进行表达,大肠杆菌工程菌经阿拉伯糖诱导后取样,用SDS-PAGE检测表达情况,采用生物信息学方法对表达蛋白的结构特征进行模拟分析。结果显示：目的蛋白在原核系统中实现了高效表达,表达量高达67%以上,主要以包涵体形式表达。蛋白结构预测结果显示,目的蛋白原有的α螺旋活性结构无改变,从而为抗菌肽高效生产提供了有效可靠的研究途径。     

抗菌肽Pexiganan和IB-367的基因克隆及表达

目的:为开发新的抗菌药,通过基因工程手段获得能够表达抗菌肽Pexiganan和IB-367的工程菌株。方法:人工合成2种抗菌肽Pexiganan和IB-367基因,构建相应的GST融合表达载体,转化大肠杆菌后筛选阳性克隆,通过SDS-PAGE和Western印迹验证目的蛋白的表达。结果:获得了2株分别表达Pexiganan-GST融合蛋白和IB-367-GST融合蛋白的工程菌株。结论:通过基因工程方法,可以融合蛋白的形式获得小分子多肽Pexiganan和IB-367。     

Controlled Enzymatic Hydrolysis: A New Strategy for the Discovery of Antimicrobial Peptides

The use of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is an alternative to traditional antibiotics. AMPs are obtained using different methods such as bacterial synthesis, chemical synthesis and controlled enzymatic hydrolysis. The later is an interesting approach that deserves our attention because of the yields gathered and peptides engineered. Usually, activities of AMPs obtained in such a way are tightly dependent on the hydrolysis mechanism used. This paper deals with the hydrolysis of hemoglobin mechanism as a potential source of AMPs. Production of AMPs from hemoglobin using enzymatic controlled system is linked to hemoglobin structure. Further, we show that bovine hemoglobin, which is sensitive to peptic hydrolysis, results upon enzymatic digestion as a great source of AMPs. The hemoglobin in native and denatured states was hydrolyzed by “one-by-one” and “zipper” mechanisms, respectively. Nevertheless, a new mechanism named “semi-zipper” mechanism is obtained when protein is in molten globule structural state, constituting an original strategy for AMPs production. Seventy seven percentage of the peptides obtained by this new strategy showed antibacterial activity against nine strains.     

Chloride-Inducible Expression Vector for Delivery of Antimicrobial Peptides Targeting Antibiotic-Resistant Enterococcus faecium

Antibiotic-resistant enterococcal infections are a major concern in hospitals where patients with compromised immunity are readily infected. Enterococcus faecium bacteria are of particular interest as these pathogens account for over 80% of vancomycin-resistant enterococcal infections. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) produced at the site of infection by engineered bacteria may offer a potential alternative to traditional antibiotics for the treatment of resistant bacteria such as E. faecium. For this mode of delivery to be effective, it is essential to identify a suitable protein expression system that can be used in the desired delivery bacterium. In this study, we describe a promising chloride-inducible promoter and its application in the bacterial delivery of AMPs from Lactococcus lactis to reduce counts of E. faecium bacteria in vitro. Reporter gene studies show that at chloride concentrations found within the human intestines, the chloride-inducible promoter exhibits high levels of protein expression compared to those of the commonly used nisin-inducible promoter. These results indicate that this system is powerful and would not require the exogenous administration of an inducer molecule. In its application for AMP production against E. faecium in vitro, L. lactis producing AMPs under the chloride promoter rapidly decreased E. faecium counts by nearly 10,000-fold. As an extension of this application, we also demonstrate the potential in using this type of delivery system in combination with traditional antibiotics to slow the development of resistance. Collectively, this study shows the promise of using a chloride-inducible promoter for the bacterial delivery of AMPs in the body for the treatment of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and other antibiotic-resistant bacteria.     

Antimicrobial peptides: new candidates in the fight against bacterial infections

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) of innate origin are agents of the most ancient form of defense systems. They can be found in a wide variety of species ranging from bacteria through insects to humans. Through the course of evolution, host organisms developed arsenals of AMPs that protect them against a large variety of invading pathogens including both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. At a time of increasing bacterial resistance, AMPs have been the focus of investigation in a number of laboratories worldwide. Although recent studies show that some of the peptides are likely to have intracellular targets, the vast majority of AMPs appear to act by permeabilization of the bacterial cell membrane. Their activity and selectivity are governed by the physicochemical parameters of the peptide chains as well as the properties of the membrane system itself. In this review, we will summarize some of the recent developments that provide us with a better understanding of the mode of action of this unique family of antibacterial agents. Particular attention will be given to the determinants of AMP-lipid bilayer interactions as well as to the different pore formation mechanisms. The emphasis will be on linear AMPs but representatives of cysteine-bridged AMPs will also be discussed.     

Expression systems for heterologous production of antimicrobial peptides

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) consist of molecules that act on the defense systems of numerous organisms toward multiple pathogens such as bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses. These compounds have become extremely significant due to the increasing resistance of microorganisms to common antibiotics. However, the low quantity of peptides obtained from direct purification is, to date, still a remarkable bottleneck for scientific and industrial research development. Therefore, this review describes the main heterologous systems currently used for AMP production, including bacteria, fungi and plants, and also the related strategies for reaching greater functional peptide production. The main difficulties of each system are also described in order to provide some directions for AMP production. In summary, data revised here indicate that large-scale production of AMPs can be obtained using biotechnological tools, and the products may be applied in the pharmaceutical industry as well as in agribusiness.     

Antimicrobials,Stress and Mutagenesis

Cationic antimicrobial peptides are ancient and ubiquitous immune effectors that multicellular organisms use to kill and police microbes whereas antibiotics are mostly employed by microorganisms. As antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) mostly target the cell wall, a microbial ‘Achilles heel’, it has been proposed that bacterial resistance evolution is very unlikely and hence AMPs are ancient ‘weapons’ of multicellular organisms. Here we provide a new hypothesis to explain the widespread distribution of AMPs amongst multicellular organism. Studying five antimicrobial peptides from vertebrates and insects, we show, using a classic Luria-Delbrück fluctuation assay, that cationic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) do not increase bacterial mutation rates. Moreover, using rtPCR and disc diffusion assays we find that AMPs do not elicit SOS or rpoS bacterial stress pathways. This is in contrast to the main classes of antibiotics that elevate mutagenesis via eliciting the SOS and rpoS pathways. The notion of the ‘Achilles heel’ has been challenged by experimental selection for AMP-resistance, but our findings offer a new perspective on the evolutionary success of AMPs. Employing AMPs seems advantageous for multicellular organisms, as it does not fuel the adaptation of bacteria to their immune defenses. This has important consequences for our understanding of host-microbe interactions, the evolution of innate immune defenses, and also sheds new light on antimicrobial resistance evolution and the use of AMPs as drugs.     

Sense the moment: A highly sensitive antimicrobial activity predictor based on hydrophobic moment

BackgroundComputer-aided identification and design tools are indispensable for developing antimicrobial agents for controlling antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have aroused intense interest, since they have a broad spectrum of activity, and therefore, several systems for predicting antimicrobial peptides have been developed, using scalar physicochemical properties; however, regardless of the machine learning algorithm, these systems often fail in discriminating AMPs from their shuffled versions, leading to the need for new training methods to overcome this bias. Aiming to solve this bias, here we present “Sense the Moment”, a prediction system capable of discriminating AMPs and shuffled versions.MethodsThe system was trained using 776 entries: 388 from known AMPs and another 388 based on shuffled versions of known AMPs. Each entry contained the geometric average of three hydrophobic moments measured with different scales.ResultsThe model showed good accuracy (>80%) and excellent sensitivity (>90%) for AMP prediction, exceeding deep-learning-based methods.ConclusionOur results demonstrate the system's applicability, aiding in identifying and discarding non-AMPs, since the number of false negatives is lower than false positives.General significanceThe application of this model in virtual screening protocols for identifying and/or creating antimicrobial agents could aid in the identification of potential drugs to control pathogenic microorganisms and in solving the antibiotic resistance crisis.AvailabilityThe system was implemented as a web application, available at <http://portoreports.com/stm/>.     

Interactions of two enantiomers of a designer antimicrobial peptide with structural components of the bacterial cell envelope

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have great potential in treating multi-drug resistant bacterial infections. The antimicrobial activity of d -enantiomers is significantly higher than l -enantiomers and sometimes selectively enhanced against Gram-positive bacteria. Unlike phospholipids in the bacterial plasma membrane, the role of other bacterial cell envelop components is often overlooked in the mode of action of AMPs. In this work, we explored the structural interactions between the main different structural components in Gram-negative/Gram-positive bacteria and the two enantiomers of a designer AMP, GL13K. We observed that both l -GL13K and d -GL13K formed self-assembled amyloid-like nanofibrils when the peptides interacted with lipopolysaccharide and lipoteichoic acid, components of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria and cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria, respectively. Another cell wall component, peptidoglycan, showed strong interactions exclusively with d -GL13K and formed distinct laminar structures. This specific interaction between peptidoglycans and d -GL13K might contribute to the enhanced activity of d -GL13K against Gram-positive bacteria as they have a much thicker peptidoglycan layer than Gram-negative bacteria. A better understanding of the specific role of bacterial cell envelop components in the AMPs mechanism of action can guide the design of more effective Gram-selective AMPs.     

Cationic Antimicrobial Peptides in Penaeid Shrimp

Penaeid shrimp aquaculture has been consistently affected worldwide by devastating diseases that cause a severe loss in production. To fight a variety of harmful microbes in the surrounding environment, particularly at high densities (of which intensive farming represents an extreme example), shrimps have evolved and use a diverse array of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) as part of an important first-line response of the host defense system. Cationic AMPs in penaeid shrimps composed of penaeidins, crustins, and anti-lipopolysaccharide factors are comprised of multiple classes or isoforms and possess antibacterial and antifungal activities against different strains of bacteria and fungi. Shrimp AMPs are primarily expressed in circulating hemocytes, which is the main site of the immune response, and hemocytes expressing AMPs probably migrate to infection sites to fight against pathogen invasion. Indeed, most AMPs are produced as early as the nauplii developmental stage to protect shrimp larvae from infections. In this review, we discuss the sequence diversity, expression, gene structure, and antimicrobial activities of cationic AMPs in penaeid shrimps. The information available on antimicrobial activities indicates that these shrimp AMPs have potential therapeutic applications in the control of disease problems in aquaculture.     

抗菌肽融合表达研究进展

抗菌肽抗菌谱广、活性稳定,且具有与抗生素不同的抗菌机制,在抑杀病原微生物的同时不易产生耐药性,因而在食品、饲料、医药等领域具有重要的应用价值。基因工程技术是降低抗菌肽生产成本的主要方式,其中融合表达在提高抗菌肽产量方面起到了重要作用。文中综述了抗菌肽融合表达的国内外研究进展,探讨了部分融合标签用于抗菌肽表达的策略,并对今后的发展提出了自己的看法。     

Bacterial resistance to antimicrobial peptides

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) or host defense peptides (HDPs) are vital components of human innate defense system targeting human‐related bacteria. Many bacteria have various mechanisms interfering with AMP activity, causing resistance to AMPs. Since AMPs are considered as potential novel antimicrobial drugs, understanding the mechanisms of bacterial resistance to direct killing of AMPs is of great significance. In this review, a comparative overview of bacterial strategies for resistance to direct killing of various AMPs is presented. Such strategies include bacterial cell envelope modification, AMP degradation, sequestration, expelling, and capsule.