Antimicrobial peptide from mucus of Andrias davidianus: screening and purification by magnetic cell membrane separation technique

July 28, 2017

Title

Antimicrobial peptide from mucus of Andrias davidianus: screening and purification by magnetic cell membrane separation technique

Author

Jinjin Pei, Lei Jiang

Year

2017

Journal

International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents

Abstract

Andrias davidianus, the Chinese giant salamander, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for many decades. However, no antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been described from A. davidianus until now. Here we describe a novel AMP (andricin 01) isolated from the mucus of A. davidianus. The peptide was recovered using an innovative magnetic cell membrane separation technique and was characterised using mass spectrometry and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Andricin 01 is comprised of ten amino acid residues with a total molecular mass of 955.1 Da. CD spectrum analysis gave results similar to the archetypal random coil spectrum, consistent with the three-dimensional rendering calculated by current bioinformatics tools. Andricin 01 was found to be inhibitory both to Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Furthermore, the peptide at the minimal bacterial concentration did not show cell cytotoxicity against human hepatocytes or renal cells and did not show haemolytic activity against red blood cells, indicating that is potentially safe and effective for human use. Andricin 01 shows promise as a novel antibacterial that may provide an insight into the development of new drugs.

Instrument

J-810

Keywords

Circular dichroism, Secondary structure, Chemical stability, Biochemistry