Cu2+ reduces hemolytic activity of the antimicrobial peptide HMPI and enhances its trypsin resistance. (5th May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Peng, Jinxiu; Yang, Yang; Zhao, Ping; Qiu, Shuai; Jia, Fengjing; Wang, Jiayi; Liang, Xiaolei; Chaudhry, Ahmed Shabbir; Xu, Peihan; Yan, Wenjin; Xu, Zhaoqing; Wang, Kairong
• Is Part Of: Acta biochimica et biophysica Sinica. Volume 52:Number 6(2020)
• Page Start: 603
• Page End: 611
• Publication Date: 2020-05-05
• Subjects: antimicrobial peptide HMPI -- antifungal activity -- protease -- stability -- trypsin; Biochemistry -- Periodicals; Biophysics -- Periodicals; 572.05
• DOI: 10.1093/abbs/gmaa043
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1672-9145

Abstract

Abstract: Nowadays, drug-resistant microbes are becoming a serious clinical problem threatening people's health and life. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are believed to be potential alternatives of conventional antibiotics to combat the threat of drug-resistant microbes. However, the susceptibility of AMPs toward proteases is one of the major problems limiting their clinical use. In the present study, we reported the effect of Cu 2+ on the bioactivity of AMP HMPI. We found that the addition of Cu 2+ could improve the protease resistance of AMP HMPI without affecting its bioactivity. Notably, after the binding of Cu 2+ with HMPI, the hemolytic activity of HMPI was greatly decreased. In addition, our results also demonstrated that the addition of Cu 2+ increased the production of reactive oxygen species in the fungal cells, which may be a supplement for the antifungal activity of HMPI. In conclusion, the introduction of Cu 2+ may provide an inorganic strategy to improve the stability and decrease the hemolytic activity of AMP HMPI, while maintaining its antifungal activity.