Synthetic analogs of anoplin show improved antimicrobial activities

We present the antimicrobial and hemolytic activities of the decapeptide anoplin and 19 analogs thereof tested against methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 33591 (MRSA), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), vancomycin‐resistant Enterococcus faecium (ATCC 700221) (VRE), and Candida albicans (ATCC 200955). The anoplin analogs contain substitutions in amino acid positions 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10. We use these peptides to study the effect of altering the charge and hydrophobicity of anoplin on activity against red blood cells and microorganisms. We find that increasing the charge and/or hydrophobicity improves antimicrobial activity and increases hemolytic activity. For each strain tested, we identify at least six anoplin analogs with an improved therapeutic index compared with anoplin, the only exception being Enterococcus faecium, against which only few compounds are more specific than anoplin. Both 2Nal⁶ and Cha⁶ show improved therapeutic index against all strains tested. Copyright © 2013 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Design of novel analogues of short antimicrobial peptide anoplin with improved antimicrobial activity

Currently, novel antibiotics are urgently required to combat the emergence of drug‐resistant bacteria. Antimicrobial peptides with membrane‐lytic mechanism of action have attracted considerable interest. Anoplin, a natural α‐helical amphiphilic antimicrobial peptide, is an ideal research template because of its short sequence. In this study, we designed and synthesized a group of analogues of anoplin. Among these analogues, anoplin‐4 composed of d ‐amino acids displayed the highest antimicrobial activity due to increased charge, hydrophobicity and amphiphilicity. Gratifyingly, anoplin‐4 showed low toxicity to host cells, indicating high bacterial selectivity. Furthermore, the mortality rate of mice infected with Escherichia coli was significantly reduced by anoplin‐4 treatment relative to anoplin. In conclusion, anoplin‐4 is a novel anoplin analogue with high antimicrobial activity and enzymatic stability, which may represent a potent agent for the treatment of infection. Copyright © 2014 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Folding propensity of anoplin: A molecular dynamics study of the native peptide and four mutated isoforms

Anoplin, a cationic decapeptide amide GLLKRIKTLL‐NH₂ derived from venom sac of the solitary wasp Anoplius samariensis has been investigated through Molecular Dynamics. The wild‐type (WT) and four isoforms were simulated both in water and in the membrane‐mimicking solvent trifluoroethanol (TFE). In water all the investigated species, found to be in rapid equilibrium between different conformational states, can be considered as unfolded. On the other hand, in TFE all the systems enhance their rigidity and, in general, show α‐helix as the main folded conformation. Interestingly, a semi‐quantitative thermodynamic analysis has suggested that the folding driving force is not always the same being in some cases (e.g., the WT Anoplin) of entropic nature and in other cases of energetic nature. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 103: 692–701, 2015.     

Study of the mechanism of action of anoplin, a helical antimicrobial decapeptide with ion channel-like activity, and the role of the amidated C-terminus.

Anoplin, an antimicrobial, helical decapeptide from wasp venom, looses its biological activities by mere deamidation of its C-terminus. Secondary structure determination, by circular dichroism spectroscopy in amphipathic environments, and lytic activity in zwitterionic and anionic vesicles showed quite similar results for the amidated and the carboxylated forms of the peptide. The deamidation of the C-terminus introduced a negative charge at an all-positive charged peptide, causing a loss of amphipathicity, as indicated by molecular dynamics simulations in TFE/water mixtures and this subtle modification in a peptide's primary structure disturbed the interaction with bilayers and biological membranes. Although being poorly lytic, the amidated form, but not the carboxylated, presented ion channel-like activity on anionic bilayers with a well-defined conductance step; at approximately the same concentration it showed antimicrobial activity. The pores remain open at trans-negative potentials, preferentially conducting cations, and this situation is equivalent to the interaction of the peptide with bacterial membranes that also maintain a high negative potential inside.     

Novel properties of antimicrobial peptide anoplin

Antimicrobial decapeptide anoplin was tested for its antifungal activity against plant pathogen Leptosphaeria maculans and protection of Brassica napus plants from disease. To reveal the mode of action of the peptide, a natural form of anoplin amidated on C-terminus (ANP-NH₂), and its carboxylated analog (ANP-OH) were used in the study. We demonstrated strong antifungal activity of anoplin in vitro regardless C-terminus modification. In addition we show that both ANP-NH₂ and ANP-OH induce expression of defence genes in B. napus and protects plants from L. maculans infection. The results indicate that the amidation of anoplin is not essential for its antifungal and plant defence stimulating activities.     

Structure-activity relationship of an antibacterial peptide, maculatin 1.1, from the skin glands of the tree frog, Litoria genimaculata.

Maculatin 1.1 (Mac) is a cationic antibacterial peptide isolated from the dorsal glands of the tree frog, Litoria genimaculata, and has a sequence of GLFGVLAKVAAHVVPAIAEHF-NH2. A short peptide lacking the N-terminal two residues of Mac was reported to have no activity. To investigate the structure-activity relationship in detail, several analogs and related short peptides of Mac were synthesized. CD measurement showed that all the peptides took more or less an alpha-helical structure in the presence of anionic lipid vesicles. Analogs which are more basic than Mac had strong antibacterial and hemolytic activities, while short peptides lacking one or two terminal residues exhibited weak or no activity. Outer and inner membrane permeabilization activities of the peptides were also reduced with shortening of the peptide chain. These results indicate that the entire chain length of Mac is necessary for full activity, and the basicity of the peptides greatly affects the activity.     

Predicted calmodulin-binding sequence in the gamma subunit of phosphorylase b kinase

A basic, amphiphilic alpha helix is a structural feature common to a variety of inhibitors of calmodulin and to the calmodulin-binding domains of myosin light chain kinases. To aid in recognizing this structural feature in sequences of peptides and proteins we have developed a computer algorithm which searches for sequences of appropriate length, hydrophobicity, helical hydrophobic moment, and charge to be considered as potential calmodulin-binding sequences. Such sequences occurred infrequently in proteins of known crystal structure. This algorithm was used to find the most likely site in the catalytic (gamma) subunit of phosphorylase b kinase for interaction with calmodulin (the delta subunit). A peptide corresponding to this site (residues 341-361 of the gamma subunit) was synthesized and found to bind calmodulin with approximately an 11 nM dissociation constant. A variant of this peptide in which an aspartic acid at position 7 in its sequence (347 of the gamma subunit) was replaced with an asparagine was found to bind calmodulin with approximately a 3 nM dissociation constant.     

Structure-activity relationship study of Aib-containing amphipathic helical peptide-cyclic RGD conjugates as carriers for siRNA delivery

The conjugation of Aib-containing amphipathic helical peptide with cyclo(-Arg-Gly-Asp-d-Phe-Cys-) (cRGDfC) at the C-terminus of the helix peptide (PI) has been reported to be useful for constructing a carrier for targeted siRNA delivery into cells. In order to explore structure–activity relationships for the development of potential carriers for siRNA delivery, we synthesized conjugates of Aib-containing amphipathic helical peptide with cRGDfC at the N-terminus (PII) and both the N- and C-termini (PIII) of the helical peptide. Furthermore, to examine the influence of PI helical chain length on siRNA delivery, truncated peptides containing 16 (PIV), 12 (PV), and 8 (PVI) amino acid residues at the N-terminus of the helical chain were synthesized. PII and PIII, as well as PI, could deliver anti-luciferase siRNA into cells to induce the knockdown of luciferase stably expressed in cells. In contrast, all of the truncated peptides were unlikely to transport siRNA into cells.     

青环海蛇抗菌肽Hc-CATH的分子设计及药效毒理优化

为获得分子量小、毒性低的抗感染多肽药物先导分子,以来源于青环海蛇的cathelicidin家族抗菌肽Hc-CATH为模板,设计了长度分别为16和15个氨基酸残基的改造体Hc-16和Hc-15,并通过CCK8实验、最小抑菌浓度(Minimal inhibitory concentration,MIC)实验、ELISA 实...     

Structure-activity relationship study on human urotensin II.

The vasoactive cyclic undecapeptide urotensin-II (U-II) has been identified as an endogenous ligand for the G-protein coupled receptor now referred to as the UT receptor. The U-II/UT receptor system might be relevant for cardiovascular functions. A structure-activity study of human U-II investigating 31 peptides in the rat aorta bioassay is reported. Ala- and D-scan investigations indicated that the sequence Phe6-Trp7-Lys8-Tyr9 is essential for biological activity and that Lys8 and Tyr9 are particularly important. These two residues were substituted with a series of coded and non-coded amino acids. These studies demonstrated that the positive charge of the primary aliphatic amine at position 8 and its relative spatial orientation is crucial for both receptor occupation and activation, while the only chemical requirement at position 9 is the presence of an aromatic moiety. Moreover, this study led to the identification of UT receptor partial agonists (compounds 23 and 24) which can be used as chemical templates for further investigations aimed at the identification of selective antagonists.     

Structure-activity relationship study: short antimicrobial peptides.

Many short antimicrobial peptides (< 18mer) have been identified for the development of therapeutic agents. However, Structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies about short antimicrobial peptides have not been extensively performed. To investigate the relationship between activity and structural parameters such as an alpha-helical structure, a net positive charge and a hydrophobicity, we synthesized and characterized diastereomers, scramble peptides and substituted peptides of the short antimicrobial peptide identified by combinatorial libraries. Circular dichroism (CD) spectra and in vitro activity indicated that an alpha-helical structure correlated with the antimicrobial activity and a beta-sheet structure also satisfied a structural requirement for antimicrobial activity. Most peptides consisting of L-amino acids lost antifungal activity in the presence of heat-inactivated serum, while active diastereomers and a scramble peptide with the beta-sheet structure retained antifungal activity in the same condition.     

信号肽疏水性的提高促进青霉素G酰化酶分泌

设计和合成了一段具有连续１０仆亮氨酸强疏水核心的信号肽（ａｒｔｉｆｉｃｉａｌ ｓｉｇｎａｌ ｐｅｐｔｉｄｅ,ＡＳＰ）,由ＥｃｏＲＩ－ＫｐｎＩ位点融合到青霉素Ｇ酰化酶（ｐｅｎｉｃｉｌｌｉｎ Ｇａｃｙｌａｓｅ,ＰＡＣ）信号肽（ｗｉｌｄ ｔｙｐｅｓｉｇｎａｌ ｐｅｐｔｉｄｅ,ＷＴＳＰ）的－４Ｐｒｏ位点,分别构建了ＰＡＣ表达质粒：ｐＫＫｐａｃ△ＳＰ,ｐＫＫｐａｃＷＴＳＰ,ｐＫＫｐａｃＡＳＰ,ｐＥＴｐａｃ     

Synthesis and biological activity of lipophilic analogs of the cationic antimicrobial active peptide anoplin

Anoplin is a short natural cationic antimicrobial peptide which is derived from the venom sac of the solitary wasp, Anoplius samariensis. Due to its short sequence G¹LLKR⁵IKT⁸LL‐NH₂, it is ideal for research tests. In this study, novel analogs of anoplin were prepared and examined for their antimicrobial, hemolytic activity, and proteolytic stability. Specific substitutions were introduced in amino acids Gly¹, Arg⁵, and Thr⁸ and lipophilic groups with different lengths in the N‐terminus in order to investigate how these modifications affect their antimicrobial activity. These cationic analogs exhibited higher antimicrobial activity than the native peptide; they are also nontoxic at their minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values and resistant to enzymatic degradation. The substituted peptide GLLKF⁵IKK⁸LL‐NH₂ exhibited high activity against Gram‐negative bacterium Zymomonas mobilis (MIC = 7 µg/ml), and the insertion of octanoic, decanoic, and dodecanoic acid residues in its N‐terminus increased the antimicrobial activity against Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria (MIC = 5 µg/ml). The conformational characteristics of the peptide analogs were studied by circular dichroism. Structure activity studies revealed that the substitution of specific amino acids and the incorporation of lipophilic groups enhanced the amphipathic α‐helical conformation inducing better antimicrobial effects. Copyright © 2016 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interaction of 18-residue peptides derived from amphipathic helical segments of globular proteins with model membranes

We investigated the interaction of six 18-residue peptides derived from amphipathic helical segments of globular proteins with model membranes. The net charge of the peptides at neutral pH varies from −1 to +6. Circular dichroism spectra indicate that peptides with a high net positive charge tend to fold into a helical conformation in the presence of negatively charged lipid vesicles. In helical conformation, their average hydrophobic moment and hydrophobicity would render them surface-active. The composition of amino acids on the polar face of the helix in the peptides is considerably different. The peptides show variations in their ability to permeabilise zwitterionic and anionic lipid vesicles. Whereas increased net positive charge favours greater permeabilisation, the distribution of charged residues in the polar face also plays a role in determining membrane activity. The distribution of amino acids in the polar face of the helix in the peptides that were investigated do not fall into the canonical classes described. Amphipathic helices, which are part of proteins, with a pattern of amino acid distribution different from those observed in class L, A and others, could help in providing newer insights into peptide-membrane interactions.     

Honeybees have Hydrophobic Wings that Enable Them to Fly through Fog and Dew

Honeybees have received public attention for their remarkable performance in low-altitude flying and their outstanding airborne hovering capability.However,minimal attention has been given to their capability to fly through the harshest climatic conditions.In this study,we used a high-speed camera and recorded an interesting phenomenon in which honeybees (Apis mellifera ligustica) flew effortlessly through mists or drizzling rain.To identify the mechanism behind honeybees flying through mists,the microstructure of their wings was examined via atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.Experimental results showed that the surface of a honeybee wing was rough,with bristles distributed on both the dorsal and ventral sides.The measurement results of the contact angle proved that the surface of honeybee wings was hydrophobic.Furthermore,hydrophobic proteins,which contained at least one hydrophobic tetra-peptide (i.e.,AAPA/V),were obtained.The rugged surface and hydrophobic proteins caused the hydrophobicity of honeybee wings.These results identify the hydrophobic mechanism of honeybee wings,which will be useful in designing hydrophobic structures.     

Structure-activity relationship study of novel necroptosis inhibitors

Necroptosis is a regulated caspase-independent cell death mechanism that results in morphological features resembling necrosis. It can be induced in a FADD-deficient variant of human Jurkat T cells treated with TNF-alpha. 5-(1H-Indol-3-ylmethyl)-2-thiohydantoins and 5-(1H-indol-3-ylmethyl)hydantoins were found to be potent necroptosis inhibitors (called necrostatins). A SAR study revealed that several positions of the indole were intolerant of substitution, while small substituents at the 7-position resulted in increased inhibitory activity. The hydantoin ring was also quite sensitive to structural modifications. A representative member of this compound class demonstrated moderate pharmacokinetic characteristics and readily entered the central nervous system upon intravenous administration.     

Structure-activity relationship study of the cell-penetrating peptide pVEC

The peptide pVEC is a recently described cell-penetrating peptide, derived from the murine vascular endothelial-cadherin protein. In order to define which part of this 18-amino acid long peptide is important for the cellular translocation, we performed a structure-activity relationship study of pVEC. Together with the l-alanine substituted peptides, the retro-pVEC, D-pVEC and the scramble pVEC are studied for comparison. The peptide analogues are labeled with carboxyfluorescein at the N-terminus for monitoring the cellular uptake into human Bowes melanoma cells with different efficacy. We show that all the Fl-pVEC analogues internalize in live Bowes melanoma cells. l-Alanine substitution of the five respective N-terminal hydrophobic amino acids significantly decreases the translocation property, while replacing of Arg⁶, Arg⁸ or Ser¹⁷ by alanine enhances the uptake. The uptake of pVEC is significantly reduced by treatment with an endocytosis inhibitor wortmannin. Treatment with heparinase III, nystatin and EIPA had no effect on the peptide uptake. The data presented here show that the N-terminal hydrophobic part of pVEC is crucial for efficient cellular translocation.     

The helical hairpin structure of the influenza fusion peptide can be seen on a hydrophobic moment map

An assignment of the helical hairpin of the influenza fusion peptide has been made based on the hydrophobic moments, represented in a form of two-dimensional map. Such assignment holds for all serotypes, even for the cases of mutations altering the amino acid character. Similar results are obtained for the experimentally developed hydrophobicity scales, whose values reflect the transfer energies between aqueous and membrane environments. A distinct, however still structure-related hydrophobic map corresponds to a helical and contiguous HIV gp41 fp. The method may be used as a simple tool for sequence-based prediction of structures adopted by viral fusion peptides.     

Structure-activity relationship study of arylsulfonylimidazolidinones as anticancer agents

In an effort to find novel N-arylsulfonylimidazolidinones as highly potent anticancer agent, the structure-activity relationship of ethyl 2-methyl-4-(2-oxo-4-phenylimidazolidin-1-ylsulfonyl)phenylcarbamate was explored through synthesis and evaluation of in vitro cytotoxicity of its analogs against HCT116, A549 and NCL-H460 cancer cell lines. Among the synthesized derivatives, the carbamate analogs (4a-f and 4k-p) exhibited superior cytotoxicity to doxorubicin for all cancer cell lines. The SAR studies of these derivatives confirm that the intact 4-phenyl-l-benzenesulfonylimidazolidinone has a pivotal role as a basic pharmacophore and hydrophobic substitutions only at 2-position of 1-aminobenzenesulfonyl moiety are beneficial for the enhancement of the activity.