Human Antimicrobial Peptides: Defensins, Cathelicidins and Histatins

Antimicrobial peptides, which have been isolated from many bacteria, fungi, plants, invertebrates and vertebrates, are an important component of the natural defenses of most living organisms. The isolated peptides are very heterogeneous in length, sequence and structure, but most of them are small, cationic and amphipathic. These peptides exhibit broad-spectrum activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, yeasts, fungi and enveloped viruses. A wide variety of human proteins and peptides also have antimicrobial activity and play important roles in innate immunity. In this review we discuss three important groups of human antimicrobial peptides. The defensins are cationic non-glycosylated peptides containing six cysteine residues that form three intramolecular disulfide bridges, resulting in a triple-stranded β-sheet structure. In humans, two classes of defensins can be found: α-defensins and β-defensins. The defensin-related HE2 isoforms will also be discussed. The second group is the family of histatins, which are small, cationic, histidine-rich peptides present in human saliva. Histatins adopt a random coil conformation in aqueous solvents and form α-helices in non-aqueous solvents. The third group comprises only one antimicrobial peptide, the cathelicidin LL−37. This peptide is derived proteolytically from the C-terminal end of the human CAP18 protein. Just like the histatins, it adopts a largely random coil conformation in a hydrophilic environment, and forms an α-helical structure in a hydrophobic environment.     

CFTR Protects against Mycobacterium abscessus Infection by Fine-Tuning Host Oxidative Defenses

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Staphylococcus epidermidis Contributes to Healthy Maturation of the Nasal Microbiome by Stimulating Antimicrobial Peptide Production

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2-O-Sulfated Domains in Syndecan-1 Heparan Sulfate Inhibit Neutrophil Cathelicidin and Promote Staphylococcus aureus Corneal Infection

Ablation of syndecan-1 in mice is a gain of function mutation that enables mice to significantly resist infection by several bacterial pathogens. Syndecan-1 shedding is induced by bacterial virulence factors, and inhibition of shedding attenuates bacterial virulence, whereas administration of purified syndecan-1 ectodomain enhances virulence, suggesting that bacteria subvert syndecan-1 ectodomains released by shedding for their pathogenesis. However, the pro-pathogenic functions of syndecan-1 ectodomain have yet to be clearly defined. Here, we examined how syndecan-1 ectodomain enhances Staphylococcus aureus virulence in injured mouse corneas. We found that syndecan-1 ectodomain promotes S. aureus corneal infection in an HS-dependent manner. Surprisingly, we found that this pro-pathogenic activity is dependent on 2-O-sulfated domains in HS, indicating that the effects of syndecan-1 ectodomain are structure-based. Our results also showed that purified syndecan-1 ectodomain and heparan compounds containing 2-O-sulfate motifs inhibit S. aureus killing by antimicrobial factors secreted by degranulated neutrophils, but does not affect intracellular phagocytic killing by neutrophils. Immunodepletion of antimicrobial factors with staphylocidal activities demonstrated that CRAMP, a cationic antimicrobial peptide, is primarily responsible for S. aureus killing among other factors secreted by degranulated neutrophils. Furthermore, we found that purified syndecan-1 ectodomain and heparan compounds containing 2-O-sulfate units potently and specifically inhibit S. aureus killing by synthetic CRAMP. These results provide compelling evidence that a specific subclass of sulfate groups, and not the overall charge of HS, permits syndecan-1 ectodomains to promote S. aureus corneal infection by inhibiting a key arm of neutrophil host defense.     

Insect antimicrobial peptides show potentiating functional interactions against Gram-negative bacteria

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and proteins are important components of innateimmunity against pathogens in insects. The production of AMPs is costly owing toresource-based trade-offs, and strategies maximizing the efficacy of AMPs at lowconcentrations are therefore likely to be advantageous. Here, we show thepotentiating functional interaction of co-occurring insect AMPs (the bumblebeelinear peptides hymenoptaecin and abaecin) resulting in more potentantimicrobial effects at low concentrations. Abaecin displayed no detectableactivity against Escherichia coli when tested alone atconcentrations of up to 200 μM, whereas hymenoptaecin affected bacterialcell growth and viability but only at concentrations greater than 2 μM.In combination, as little as 1.25 μM abaecin enhanced the bactericidaleffects of hymenoptaecin. To understand these potentiating functionalinteractions, we investigated their mechanisms of action using atomic forcemicroscopy and fluorescence resonance energy transfer-based quenching assays.Abaecin was found to reduce the minimal inhibitory concentration ofhymenoptaecin and to interact with the bacterial chaperone DnaK (anevolutionarily conserved central organizer of the bacterial chaperone network)when the membrane was compromised by hymenoptaecin. These naturally occurringpotentiating interactions suggest that combinations of AMPs could be usedtherapeutically against Gram-negative bacterial pathogens that have acquiredresistance to common antibiotics.     

Host–parasite interactions: resist or tolerate but never stop running

A conference exploring ‘The impact of the environment on innate immunity: the threat of diseases’ was held on 4–9 May 2009 in Obergurgl, Austria, thanks to the support from the European Science Foundation, Innsbruck University and the Austrian Science Foundation. The goals of the conference were to explore how the outcomes of host–parasite interactions depend on variation across individuals, their parasites and the environment in which they both find themselves. Central themes were the inherent costs of mounting an immune response, the ability of some organisms to pre-empt infection by ‘priming’ their immune systems, the fact that parasites learn to evade immune responses over time and the use of theory to predict when diseases will get out of hand. Many of the systems presented had clear impacts on human health, agriculture or the maintenance of complex ecosystems. There was common ground throughout in developing methodologies and embracing what one of the organizers termed the ‘interactome’ between hosts and those which would exploit them.     

Systemic Bacterial Infection and Immune Defense Phenotypes in Drosophila Melanogaster

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is one of the premier model organisms for studying the function and evolution of immune defense. Many aspects of innate immunity are conserved between insects and mammals, and since Drosophila can readily be genetically and experimentally manipulated, they are powerful for studying immune system function and the physiological consequences of disease. The procedure demonstrated here allows infection of flies by introduction of bacteria directly into the body cavity, bypassing epithelial barriers and more passive forms of defense and allowing focus on systemic infection. The procedure includes protocols for the measuring rates of host mortality, systemic pathogen load, and degree of induction of the host immune system. This infection procedure is inexpensive, robust and quantitatively repeatable, and can be used in studies of functional genetics, evolutionary life history, and physiology.     

Geographically Distinct Expression Profile of Host Defense Peptides in the Skin of the Chinese Odorous Frog,Odorrana margaretae

Odorrana margaretae （Anura： Ranidae） is widely distributed in the southern provinces of China. Previously, 72 antimicrobial peptides （AMPs） belonging to 21 families were identified from the skin of O. margaretae, which were captured in the Hunan province. In the present study, five O. margaretae frogs were captured from the Guizhou province and a total of 28 cDNAs encoding 17 host defense peptides （HDPs） belonging to 14 families were cloned from the skin cDNA library of O. margaretae. Among the 17 HDPs, only one （brevinin-1-Omar5） had been characterized. The distinct HDP expression profiles for O. margaretae in the previous and present study may be attributed to the environmental differences between the sampling locations and the genetic divergence among O. margaretae populations. Besides, 11 of the 17 HDPs identified in the present study were novel for ranids. In order to understand their roles in host defense reactions, three HDPs （odorranain-H-OM1, odorranain-M-OM and ranatuerin-2-OM）, which possess low sequence similarity with the known amphibian HDPs, were selected for further chemical synthesis and functional analysis. Odorranain-H-OM1 showed direct antimicrobial activity against bacteria and fungi. Odorranain-M-OM exhibited concentration-dependent anti-oxidant activity. Ranatuerin-2-OM showed lectin-like activity and could strongly hemagglu -tinate human intact erythrocytes with or without the presence of Ca2＋. The diverse activities of HDPs implied that they may play different roles in host defense reactions of O. margaretae.     

果蝇蛋白质激酶Pitslre通过调控抗菌肽表达参与天然免疫反应

为鉴定新的参与黑腹果蝇(Drosophila melanogaster)天然免疫信号通路调控的分子及作用机制,应用果蝇的Gal4/UAS系统敲低54个蛋白质激酶编码基因,分别利用革兰氏阳性菌（Enterococcus faecalis, E.faecalis）或革兰氏阴性菌（Erwinia carototovovora carototovovora 15, Ecc15）感染基因敲低果蝇,筛选参与果蝇天然免疫反应的蛋白质激酶。结果显示,全身性敲低蛋白质激酶Pitslre的果蝇感染E.faecalis或Ecc15 后,生存率降低,半致死时间LT50分别降低为对照组的66.7%和28.6%。相应的,Pitslre功能缺失导致革兰氏阳性菌和阴性菌分别感染后,Toll及IMD通路下游抗菌肽Drosomycin和Diptercin表达水平明显下降。在脂肪体和血淋巴细胞中特异性敲低Pitslre基因,导致革兰氏阳性菌及阴性菌感染后的果蝇半致死时间LT50分别缩短75%和90%,细菌载量分别升高约10倍。在果蝇S2细胞中,敲低Pitslre基因,导致细胞的抗菌肽Drosomycin、Attacin和Diptercin表达水平分别降低约50%。此外,通过免疫共沉淀实验检测Pitslre与预测存在相互作用的蛋白质TSC1、Rcd5和pbl之间的相互作用。综上所述,蛋白质激酶Pitslre参与果蝇天然免疫反应,在正向调控果蝇天然免疫Toll和IMD通路中发挥重要作用。     

果蝇蛋白质激酶Pitslre通过调控抗菌肽表达参与天然免疫反应

为鉴定新的参与黑腹果蝇(Drosophila melanogaster)天然免疫信号通路调控的分子及作用机制,应用果蝇的Gal4/UAS系统敲低54个蛋白质激酶编码基因,分别利用革兰氏阳性菌（Enterococcus faecalis, E.faecalis）或革兰氏阴性菌（Erwinia carototovovora carototovovora 15, Ecc15）感染基因敲低果蝇,筛选参与果蝇天然免疫反应的蛋白质激酶。结果显示,全身性敲低蛋白质激酶Pitslre的果蝇感染E.faecalis或Ecc15 后,生存率降低,半致死时间LT50分别降低为对照组的66.7%和28.6%。相应的,Pitslre功能缺失导致革兰氏阳性菌和阴性菌分别感染后,Toll及IMD通路下游抗菌肽Drosomycin和Diptercin表达水平明显下降。在脂肪体和血淋巴细胞中特异性敲低Pitslre基因,导致革兰氏阳性菌及阴性菌感染后的果蝇半致死时间LT50分别缩短75%和90%,细菌载量分别升高约10倍。在果蝇S2细胞中,敲低Pitslre基因,导致细胞的抗菌肽Drosomycin、Attacin和Diptercin表达水平分别降低约50%。此外,通过免疫共沉淀实验检测Pitslre与预测存在相互作用的蛋白质TSC1、Rcd5和pbl之间的相互作用。综上所述,蛋白质激酶Pitslre参与果蝇天然免疫反应,在正向调控果蝇天然免疫Toll和IMD通路中发挥重要作用。     

Rational design of peptides active against the gram positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus

In an attempt to increase the antimicrobial activity of the insect defensin from Anopheles gambiae, which is active against Staphylococcus aureus at low concentration, hybrid defensins were designed by combining conserved sequence regions and variable regions of insect defensins. Their activity against S. aureus strains sensitive and resistant to conventional antibiotics was evaluated, and the toxicity of the most active molecules was tested. The three-dimensional structure of Anopheles gambiae defensin and five hybrids were determined by NMR and molecular modelling. This strategy led to the design of two chimeric defensins with increased activity compared with the native molecule, but one of them appears to be toxic to mice at a rather low concentration. The structure of the CS alphabeta motif, which is a characteristic of insect defensin, is sensitive to sequence modifications, in particular in the N-terminal loop. The existence of the CS alphabeta is most probably a prerequisite for the stability and the activity of the molecule, but is not sufficient by itself since the hybrid displaying the best defined structure is not active against the tested strains. The analysis of the structure, in relation with the activity and the toxicity data, underlines the importance of turns and of the N-terminal loop. Residues located in the turns contributing to the preservation of positive electrostatic areas at the surface of the molecules seem particularly important for the activity of the molecule, while residues involved in the N-terminal loop are both involved in the modulation of the activity and the toxicity of the molecule.     

Promising antibacterial agents against multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Rapid emergence of multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections has created a critical health menace universally. Resistance to all the available chemotherapeutics has been on rise which led to WHO to stratify Staphylococcus aureus as high tier priorty II pathogen. Hence, discovery and development of new antibacterial agents with new mode of action is crucial to address the multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections. The egressing understanding of new antibacterials on their biological target provides opportunities for new therapeutic agents. This review underlines on various aspects of drug design, structure activity relationships (SARs) and mechanism of action of various new antibacterial agents and also covers the recent reports on new antibacterial agents with potent activity against multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus. This review provides attention on in vitro and in vivo pharmacological activities of new antibacterial agents in the point of view of drug discovery and development.     

耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌皮肤脓肿小鼠感染模型的建立与评估

目的建立耐甲氧西林金黄葡萄球菌（methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus,MRSA）小鼠皮肤脓肿感染模型,观察脓肿形成动态变化及药物对脓肿愈合的影响。方法 45只SPF级裸鼠随机分为PBS对照组、感染组及给药组,用临床分离鉴定的ST-239型MRSA菌株皮下注射感染裸鼠,对脓肿的形成过程进行时相性观察,测定脓肿体积的变化,并通过H.E染色观察皮肤的组织病理学改变。结果 PBS处理组小鼠皮肤无脓肿形成,显微镜下皮肤各层结构清楚;感染组和给药组可见到典型的脓肿,临床症状的时相性过程明显,感染组小鼠皮肤真皮层的胶原纤维消失,可见大量炎性细胞浸润,给药组小鼠的脓肿体积在整个实验周期内低于感染组,且在第5天时与感染组相比有差异。结论成功建立MRSA小鼠皮肤脓肿感染模型,该模型的建立可为进一步研究来源于临床MRSA菌株的病原特性、发病机制、治疗方法等提供可靠的动物模型。     

Synergistic activity of 1-(1-naphthylmethyl)-piperazine with ciprofloxacin against clinically resistant Staphylococcus aureus, as determined by different methods

Aims: To evaluate the interaction of 1‐(1‐naphthylmethyl)‐piperazine (NMP) and ciprofloxacin (CPFX) in vitro against fluoroquinolone (FQ)‐resistant clinical isolates of methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Methods and Results: The in vitro interaction of NMP and CPFX in 12 FQ‐resistant clinical isolates of MRSA was assessed using a checkerboard microdilution method. In the study, a synergistic antimicrobial effect between NMP and CPFX was observed in all 12 FQ‐resistant strains tested, as determined by the fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI), and in 10 strains using ΔE models. No antagonistic activity was observed in any of the strains tested. These positive interactions were also confirmed using the time–killing test and agar diffusion assay for the selected strain, MRSA 1862; synergistic activity was observed when NMP was combined with the first‐line antimicrobial agent CPFX against Staph. aureus. Conclusions: Synergistic activity between NMP and CPFX against clinical isolates of FQ‐resistant Staph. aureus was observed in vitro. Significance and Impact of the Study: This report might provide alternative methods to reduce the resistance of Staph. aureus to CPFX.