• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.1299-1309
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• 2018

We previously reported on lactophoricin (LPcin), a cationic ${\alpha}-helical$ antimicrobial peptide derived from bovine milk, which has antimicrobial effects on Candida albicans as well as Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. In this study, we designed the LPcin-YK3 peptide, a shorter analog of LPcin, and investigated its antimicrobial activity. This peptide, consisting of 15 amino acids with + 3 net charges, was an effective antimicrobial agent against the on the Gram-positive strain, Staphylococcus aureus (MIC: $0.62{\mu}g/ml$). In addition, the hemolytic activity assay revealed that the peptide was not toxic to mouse and human erythrocytes up to $40{\mu}g/ml$. We also used circular dichroism spectroscopy to confirm that peptide in the presence of lipid has ${\alpha}-helical$ structures and later provide an overview of the relationship between each structure and antimicrobial activity. This peptide is a member of a new class of antimicrobial agents that could potentially overcome the problem of bacterial resistance caused by overuse of conventional antibiotics. Therefore, it could be used as a therapeutic or natural additive, particularly in the cosmetics industry.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.745-751
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• 2003

This study was carried out to investigate whether peptide produced from wheat protein by enzyme hydrolysis can be used as a natural antimicrobial agent. Antimicrobial peptide was obtained from wheat protein hydrolyzed by 7 of pretense. The produced antimicrobial peptide was purified through ultrafiltration, membrane filtration and HPLC and molecular weight and amino acid sequence of the purified antimicrobial peptide were determined. Among hydrolysate produced from wheat protein by 7 of protease, antimicrobial activity was observed for the peptide obtained from Asp. saito protease. The Asp. saito protease did produce antimicrobial hydrolysate showing the highest antimicrobial activity at reaction condition of 37$^{\circ}C$ and pH 6.0, but not at reaction condition above 5$0^{\circ}C$. Wheat protein hydrolysate was fractionated by membrane filtration and showed antimicrobial activity between molecular weight 1,000~3,000. The antimicrobial activity fraction obtained by membrane filtration was separated through HPLC and showed antimicrobial activity in the peak of retention time 31.1~31.8 min. We could convince this hydrolysate as heat-stable peptide since antimicrobial activity was maintained after treated with heat for 15 min at 121$^{\circ}C$. Molecular weight of antimicrobial peptide identified by MALDI-mass was 1,633. Amino acid sequence of antimicrobial peptide was cysteine, glycine, prolin, prolin, prolin, valine, valine, alanine, alanine and arginine.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.154-161
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• 2017

An antimicrobial peptides-producing Bacillus strain CBS73 was isolated from fermented food (kimchi) that produces low-molecular-weight proteins with broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. Our goal was to explore the therapeutic potential of antimicrobial substances produced by Bacillus species. Peptide CBS73 was purified from Bacillus subtilis subsp. subtilis with identity of 99.79%. It was found to be stable at pH 4.0-10.0 and temp $20-60^{\circ}C$. A protein band around 5.2 kDa was detected in tricine-SDS-PAGE and band was confirmed by MALDI-TOF test. Peptide CBS73 showed antimicrobial activity against MDR bacteria. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of peptide CBS73 for vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA), vancomycin resistant Enterococci (VRE) and Salmonella typhimurium ranged from $10-40{\mu}g/mL$. The antioxidant activity of peptide CBS73 was measured by DPPH scavenging, reducing power activity and total phenolic content. Cell viability and NO production result showed less cytotoxic effect upto $12{\mu}g/mL$. Peptide CBS73 could be a promising antimicrobial agent for clinical application.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.78-90
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• 2002

This study was carried out to investigate whether peptide produced from wheat protein by enzyme hydrolysis can be used as a natural antimicrobial agent. Antimicrobial peptide was obtained from wheat protein by protease of 7 species. The produced antimicrobial peptide was purified through ultrafiltration, membrane filtration and HPLC, and molecular weight and amino acid sequence of the purified antimicrobial peptide were determined. Among hydrolysate produced from wheat protein by protease of 7 species, antimicrobial activity was observed for the peptide obtained from Asp. saito protease. The Asp. saito protease did production antimicrobial hydrolysate showing the highest antimicrobial activity at reaction condition of $37^{\circ}C$ and pH 6.0, but not at reaction condition above $50^{\circ}C$. Wheat protein hydrolysate was fractionated by membrane filtration and showed antimicrobial activity between molecular weight 1,000 - 3,000. The antimicrobial activity fraction obtained by membrane filtration was separated through HPLC and showed antimicrobial activity in the peak of retention time 31.1 - 31.8 min. Since after wheat protein protease hydrolysate was heated during 15 min at $121^{\circ}C$, antimicrobial activity was maintained, we could be conviction as heat-stable peptide. Molecular weight of antimicrobial peptide identified by MALDI-mass was 1,633. Amino acid sequence of antimicrobial peptide was cysteine, glycine, prolin, prolin, prolin, valine, valine, alanine, alanine and arginine.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.10
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• pp.669-673
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• 2011

Human methionine sulfoxide reductase B3A (hMsrB3A) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) reductase that catalyzes the stereospecific reduction of methionine-R-sulfoxide to methionine in proteins. In this work, we identified an antimicrobial peptide from hMsrB3A protein. The N-terminal ER-targeting signal peptide (amino acids 1-31) conferred an antimicrobial effect in Escherichia coli cells. Sequence and structural analyses showed that the overall positively charged ER signal peptide had an Argand Pro-rich region and a potential hydrophobic ${\alpha}$-helical segment that contains 4 cysteine residues. The potential ${\alpha}$-helical region was essential for the antimicrobial activity within E. coli cells. A synthetic peptide, comprised of 2-26 amino acids of the signal peptide, was effective at killing Gram-negative E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Salmonella paratyphi, but had no bactericidal activity against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.303-310
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• 1999

A cost-effective mass production method for a strong antimicrobial peptide, buforin II, which was isolated from the stomach of Bufo bufo gargarizans, has been developed. This method is based on the neutralization of the positive charge of buforin II by fusion with a cysteine-rich acidic peptide (CAP) to avoid any lethal effect on the host. The neutralized fusion peptide was multimerized and expressed in Escherichia coli as tandem repeats to increase the production yield. Multimers of the CAP-buforin II fusion peptide were successfully expressed at high levels in E. coli as inclusion bodies. More than 100mg of pure buforin II was obtained per 11 of E. coli culture after cleaving the multimeric polypeptide with CNBr. The buforin II obtained from the recombinant E. coli had antimicrobial activity identical to that of natural buforin II. The proposed expression system can provide a cost-effective mass production method for both antimicrobial peptides and other host-lethal basic proteins.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1305-1309
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• 2020

Insects possess biological defense systems that can effectively combat the invasion of external microorganisms and viruses, thereby supporting their survival in diverse environments. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) represent a fast-acting weapon against invading pathogens, including various bacterial or fungal strains. A 37-residue antimicrobial peptide, papiliocin, derived from the swallowtail butterfly Papilio xuthus larvae, showed significant antimicrobial activities against several human pathogenic bacterial and fungal strains. Jelleines, isolated as novel antibacterial peptides from the Royal Jelly (RJ) of bees, exhibit broad-spectrum protection against microbial infections. In this study, we developed a novel antimicrobial peptide, PAJE (RWKIFKKPFKISIHL-NH₂), which is a hybrid peptide prepared by combining 1-7 amino acid residues (RWKIFKK-NH₂) of papiliocin and 1-8 amino acid residues (PFKISIHL-NH₂) of Jelleine-1 to alter length, charge distribution, net charge, volume, amphipaticity, and improve bacterial membrane interactions. This novel peptide exhibited increased hydrophobicity and net positive charge for binding effectively to the negatively charged membrane. PAJE demonstrated antimicrobial activity against both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, with very low toxicity to eukaryotic cells and an inexpensive process of synthesis. Collectively, these findings suggest that this novel peptide possesses great potential as an antimicrobial agent.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.264-269
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• 2012

Recently, we reported that the synthetic Coprisin analog peptide 9-mer dimer CopA3 (consisted of all-L amino acid sequence) was designed based on a defensin-like peptide, Coprisin isolated from Copris tripartitus. The 9-mer dimer CopA3 (L-CopA3) had antibacterial activity and induced apoptosis in human leukemia cells via a caspase-independent pathway. In this study, all of amino acid sequences of L-CopA3 were modified to all D-form amino acids (DCopA3) to develop a more effective antimicrobial peptide. We investigated whether D-CopA3 had antimicrobial activities against pathogenic microorganisms and pro-apoptotic effects in human leukemia cells (U937, Jurkat, and AML-2). The synthetic peptide D-CopA3 had antimicrobial activities against various pathogenic bacteria and yeast fungus with MIC values in the 4~64 ${\mu}M$ range. Moreover, D-CopA3 caused cell growth inhibition, and increased the chromosomal DNA fragmentation and the expression of inflammatory cytokines, TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL1-${\beta}$, transcripts in human leukemia cells. The all-D amino acid peptide DCopA3 proved as effective as the L-CopA3 reported previously. These results provide the basis for developing D-CopA3 as a new antibiotic peptide.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.426-432
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• 2012

The activity of an antimicrobial peptide, protegrin-1 (PG-1), on lipid membranes was investigated using solidstate NMR and a new sampling method that employed mechanically aligned bilayers between thin glass plates. At 95% hydration and full hydration, the peptide respectively disrupted 25% and 86% of the aligned 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphotidylcholine (POPC) bilayers at a P/L (peptide-to-lipid) ratio of 1/20 under the new experimental conditions. The kinetics of the POPC bilayers disruption appeared to be diffusioncontrolled. The presence of cholesterol at 95% hydration and full hydration reduced the peptide disruption of the aligned POPC bilayers to less than 10% and 35%, respectively. A comparison of the equilibrium states of heterogeneously and homogeneously mixed peptides and lipids demonstrated the importance of peptide binding to the biomembrane for whole membrane disruption.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.1052-1061
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• 2019

Objective: This study was conducted to identify duck liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide 2 (LEAP-2) and demonstrate its antimicrobial activity against various pathogens. Methods: Tissue samples were collected from 6 to 8-week-old Pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus), total RNA was extracted, and cDNA was synthesized. To confirm the duck LEAP-2 transcript expression levels, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was conducted. Two kinds of peptides (a linear peptide and a disulfide-type peptide) were synthesized to compare the antimicrobial activity. Then, antimicrobial activity assay and fluorescence microscopic analysis were conducted to demonstrate duck LEAP-2 bactericidal activity. Results: The duck LEAP-2 peptide sequence showed high identity with those of other avian species (>85%), as well as more than 55% of identity with mammalian sequences. LEAP-2 mRNA was highly expressed in the liver with duodenum next, and then followed by lung, spleen, bursa and jejunum and was the lowest in the muscle. Both of LEAP-2 peptides efficiently killed bacteria, although the disulfide-type LEAP-2 showed more powerful bactericidal activity. Also, gram-positive bacteria was more susceptible to duck LEAP-2 than gram-negative bacteria. Using microscopy, we confirmed that LEAP-2 peptides could kill bacteria by disrupting the bacterial cell envelope. Conclusion: Duck LEAP-2 showed its antimicrobial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Disulfide bonds were important for the powerful killing effect by disrupting the bacterial cell envelope. Therefore, duck LEAP-2 can be used for effective antibiotics alternatives.