Alternative mechanisms of action of cationic antimicrobial peptides on bacteria

Cationic antimicrobial peptides are a novel type of antibiotic offering much potential in the treatment of microbial-related diseases. They offer many advantages for commercial development, including a broad spectrum of action and modest size. However, despite the identification or synthetic production of thousands of such peptides, the mode of action remains elusive, except for a few examples. While the dogma for the mechanism of action of antimicrobial peptides against bacteria is believed to be through pore formation or membrane barrier disruption, some peptides clearly act differently and other intracellular target sites have been identified. This article presents an updated review of how cationic antimicrobial peptides are able to affect bacterial killing, with a focus on internal targets.     

Antibacterial action of structurally diverse cationic peptides on gram-positive bacteria

Antimicrobial cationic peptides are ubiquitous in nature and are thought to be a component of the first line of defense against infectious agents. It is widely believed that the killing mechanism of these peptides on bacteria involves an interaction with the cytoplasmic membrane. Cationic peptides from different structural classes were used in experiments with Staphylococcus aureus and other medically important gram-positive bacteria to gain insight into the mechanism of action. The membrane potential-sensitive fluorophore dipropylthiacarbocyanine was used to assess the interactions of selected antimicrobial peptides with the cytoplasmic membrane of S. aureus. Study of the kinetics of killing and membrane depolarization showed that, at early time points, membrane depolarization was incomplete, even when 90% or more of the bacteria had been killed. CP26, a 26-amino-acid alpha-helical peptide with a high MIC against S. aureus, still had the ability to permeabilize the membrane. Cytoplasmic-membrane permeabilization was a widespread ability and an action that may be necessary for reaching an intracellular target but in itself did not appear to be the killing mechanism. Transmission electron microscopy of S. aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis treated with CP29 (a 26-amino-acid alpha-helical peptide), CP11CN (a 13-amino-acid, proline- and tryptophan-rich peptide), and Bac2A-NH(2) (a linearized version of the 12-amino-acid loop peptide bactenecin) showed variability in effects on bacterial structure. Mesosome-like structures were seen to develop in S. aureus, whereas cell wall effects and mesosomes were seen with S. epidermidis. Nuclear condensation and abherrent septation were occasionally seen in S. epidermidis. Our experiments indicated that these peptides vary in their mechanisms of action and that the mechanism of action likely does not solely involve cytoplasmic-membrane permeabilization.     

An overview of antimicrobial peptides and the latest advances in their development

Introduction: The recent dramatic increase in the incidence of antimicrobial resistance has been recognized by organizations such as the United Nations and World Health Organization as well as the governments of the USA and several European countries. A relatively new weapon in the fight against severe infections caused by multi-drug resistant bacteria is antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). These include colistin, currently regarded as the last line of antimicrobial therapy against multi-drug resistant microorganisms.

Areas covered: Here, the authors provide an overview of the current research on AMPs. The focus is AMPs currently being developed for the treatment of recalcitrant bacterial infections, the synergies of AMPs and antibiotics, and the activity of AMPs against biofilm. This review also includes a brief introduction into the use of AMPs in infections caused by Mycobacterium, fungi, and parasites.

Expert opinion: In research into new antimicrobials, AMPs are gaining increasing attention. While many are natural and are produced by a wide variety of organisms, others are being newly designed and chemically synthesized in the laboratory to achieve novel antimicrobial agents. The same strategy to fight infections in nature is thus being effectively exploited to safeguard human and animal health.     

家蝇抗菌肽的免疫诱导及抗菌活性研究

目的 诱导家蝇产生抗菌活性肽,鉴定其抗菌活性.方法 家蝇经针刺损伤感染大肠埃希菌,免疫诱导24h后制成组织匀浆,经低温盐析、超速离心、Sephadex G50层析、RP-HPLC等技术分离纯化抗菌肽.K-B法和稀释法测定抗菌活性.结果 家蝇体内含有抗菌活性成分,家蝇经损伤免疫诱导后分泌抗菌肽的量明显增加,经分离纯化得到了一个色谱纯的抗菌活性肽.该抗菌肽对标准菌株大肠埃希菌(ATCC 25922)、铜绿假单胞菌(ATCC 27853)和金黄色葡萄球菌(ATCC 25923)均有抗菌活性,其MIC分别为2.4 μmol/L、3.6 μmol/L和4.8 μmol/L.结论 免疫诱导可促进家蝇抗菌肽的分泌,分泌的抗菌肽有广谱抗菌活性,对革兰阴性菌和革兰阳性菌均有抑制作用.     

Microbiological profile of a new topical antibacterial: retapamulin ointment 1%

Retapamulin is a new topical pleuromutilin antibiotic for the treatment of skin and skin-structure infections, including impetigo. In vitro studies indicate that retapamulin has a unique mode of action that minimizes the potential for target-specific cross-resistance with other antibacterials and a limited potential for resistance development. Its spectrum of activity includes the most likely causative pathogens Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes. In the Global Surveillance Program, retapamulin was highly active in vitro, including against strains of S. aureus resistant to methicillin, mupirocin or fusidic acid. In clinical studies, retapamulin was noninferior to fusidic acid and oral cefalexin, achieving per-pathogen success rates of 86–99%. Topical retapamulin has a good safety profile and is associated with high patient compliance.     

Prolixicin: a novel antimicrobial peptide isolated from Rhodnius prolixus with differential activity against bacteria and Trypanosoma cruzi

We identified and characterized the activity of prolixicin, a novel antimicrobial peptide (AMP) isolated from the hemipteran insect, Rhodnius prolixus. Sequence analysis reveals one region of prolixicin that may be related to the diptericin/attacin family of AMPs. Prolixicin is an 11-kDa peptide containing a putative 21 amino acid signal peptide, two putative phosphorylation sites and no glycosylation sites. It is produced by both adult fat body and midgut tissues in response to bacterial infection of the haemolymph or the midgut. Unlike most insect antibacterial peptides, the prolixicin gene does not seem to be regulated by NF-κB binding sites, but its promoter region contains several GATA sites. Recombinant prolixicin has strong activity against the Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli and differential activity against several Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. No significant toxicity was demonstrated against Trypanosoma cruzi, the human parasite transmitted by R. prolixus.     

2012年江苏地区12家医院细菌耐药监测评价

摘要：生物信息学(bioinformatics)是基于分子生物学理论,并与生物学、数学、计算机科学、信息学融合而成的交叉复合学科。收集、整理、解析生物学实验数据是生物信息学的主要任务。本文扼要介绍了该技术在与细菌耐药相关基因分析中的应用。包括可将测得序列与数据库比对,测得的变异基因序列翻译成氨基酸序列委托Swiss Model Workspace作三维结构同源建模,进行可视化分析与分子对接分析。将测序所得细菌全基因组序列上传至基因自动注释网站,可获得编码基因序列和相应的蛋白质序列;上传至日本京都基因和基因组百科全书(KEGG)在线注释工具KAAS,可获得细菌代谢途径示意图。利用基因组数据库也可进行全基因组数据分析。     

De novo generation of cationic antimicrobial peptides: influence of length and tryptophan substitution on antimicrobial activity

Comparison of human immunodeficiency virus lentiviral lytic peptide 1 with other host-derived peptides indicates that antimicrobial properties of membrane-active peptides are markedly influenced by their cationic, hydrophobic, and amphipathic properties. Many common themes, such as Arg composition of the cationic face of an amphipathic helix and the importance of maintaining the hydrophobic face, have been deduced from these observations. These studies suggest that a peptide with these structural properties can be derived de novo by using only a few strategically positioned amino acids. However, the effects of length and helicity on antimicrobial activity and selectivity have not been objectively evaluated in the context of this motif. To address these structure-function issues, multimers of a 12-residue lytic base unit (LBU) peptide composed only of Arg and Val residues aligned to form idealized amphipathic helices were designed. Bacterial killing assays and circular dichroism analyses reveal a strong correlation between antibacterial activity, peptide length, and propensity to form a helix in solvent mimicking the environment of a membrane. Increasing peptide length beyond two LBUs (24-residue peptides) resulted in no appreciable increase in antimicrobial activity. Derivatives (WLBU) of the LBU series were further engineered by substituting Trp residues in the hydrophobic domains. The 24-residue WLBU2 peptide was active at physiologic NaCl concentrations against Staphylococcus aureus and mucoid and nonmucoid strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Further, WLBU2 displayed the highest antibacterial selectivity of all peptides evaluated in the present study by using a coculture model of P. aeruginosa and primary human skin fibroblasts. These findings provide fundamental information toward the de novo design of an antimicrobial peptide useful for the management of infectious diseases.     

In vitro activities of antimicrobial cationic peptides; melittin and nisin, alone or in combination with antibiotics against Gram-positive bacteria

The In vitro activities of two antimicrobial cationic peptides, melittin and nisin alone and in combination with frequently used antibiotics (daptomycin, vancomycin, linezolid, ampicillin, and erythromycin), were assessed against clinical isolates of methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus and Enterococcus faecalis. Using the broth microdilution method, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranges of melittin and nisin against all strains were 2-8 μg/ml and 2-32 μg/ml respectively. In combination studies performed with the microdilution checkerboard method using a fractional inhibitory concentration index of ≤ 0.5 as borderline, synergistic interactions occurred more frequently with nisin-ampicillin combination against MSSA and nisin-daptomycin combination against E. faecalis strains. The results of the time-killing curve analysis demonstrated that the concentration dependent rapid bactericidal activity of nisin, and that synergism or early synergism was detected in most strains when nisin or melittin was used in combination with antibiotics even at concentrations of 0.5 × MIC.     

天然抗菌肽分离纯化方法的建立

目的寻找高效、广谱的新型天然抗菌肽，建立稳定、有效的分离纯化方法。方法家蝇免疫诱导后制成组织匀浆，经超速离心、分子筛过滤、SephadexG50层析、反相高效液相色谱法（RP-HPLC）、透析浓缩等技术进行分离纯化，用K-B法鉴定抗菌活性。结果组织提取液经超速离心后，用pH6．8Tris-HCI尿素缓冲液作流动相，SephadexG50层析，收集到有明显抗菌活性的成分。再用pH6．8磷酸盐缓冲液作流动相，经RP-HPLC半制备柱进一步纯化，各成分分离效果良好，保留时间为18．008min处的谱峰，有明显的抗菌活性。用RP-HPLC分析柱显示其为单一成分，达到了色谱纯。该抗菌肽对大肠埃希菌ATCC25922、铜绿假单胞菌ATCC27853和耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（methicillin-resistantS．aureus，MRSA）均有抗菌活性。结论建立了有效的家蝇抗菌肽分离纯化方法，纯化的家蝇抗菌肽有广谱抗菌活性。     

Diptericin expression in bacteria infected Drosophila mbn-2 cells - effect of infection dose and phagocytosis

Drosophila haemocytes play a key role in defence against microbial aggression. Their capacity to sense and dispose of bacteria and also to signal to other immune tissues is probably vital to overcome an infection. In this work we used the haemocyte-like mbn-2 cell line to investigate how expression of the antimicrobial peptide diptericin is affected after a high dose bacterial challenge with diaminopimelic acid (DAP)-peptidoglycan Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. We report that diptericin expression is negatively affected by high infection dose and rapid bacterial growth regardless of the type of infection and bacterial virulence and occurs in the absence of mbn-2 cell death. Furthermore we show that the mbn-2 cell population is heterogeneous, containing both phagocytic and nonphagocytic cells and that contact with large numbers of bacteria decreases diptericin expression in the phagocytic cell population.     

SEANIR监测中国15所教学医院不发酵糖革兰阴性杆菌对13种抗菌药物的药敏试验

目的分析SEANIR监测2008年中国15所教学医院医院获得性不发酵糖革兰阴性杆菌对抗菌药物的敏感性,并评价帕尼培南体外药敏试验方法。方法收集2008年分离自中国15所教学医院医院获得性感染患者的非重复鲍曼不动杆菌349株、铜绿假单胞菌359株、嗜麦芽窄食单胞菌145株和洋葱伯克霍尔德菌100株,用琼脂稀释法测定13种抗菌药物的MIC,对比MH培养基和1:40 MH培养基对帕尼培南药敏试验结果的影响。结果鲍曼不动杆菌对碳青霉烯类抗生素的敏感率仅为51.6%～63.7%;多黏菌素B和米诺环素对鲍曼不动杆菌的体外抑菌活性最强,且对亚胺培南耐药鲍曼不动杆菌仍具有较高的抑菌率(分别98.1%和72.8%)。多黏菌素B和阿米卡星对铜绿假单胞菌的抑菌率最高(分别为96.1%和83.3%),其次为用1:40 MH培养基测定帕尼培南、哌拉西林-他唑巴坦和美罗培南的抑菌率(72.4%～77.2%)。嗜麦芽窄食单胞菌和洋葱伯克霍尔德菌对米诺环素和甲氧苄啶-磺胺甲噁唑均较敏感(敏感率为78.6%～98.0%)。结论多黏菌素B对鲍曼不动杆菌和铜绿假单胞菌,米诺环素对鲍曼不动杆菌、嗜麦芽窄食单胞菌和洋葱伯克霍尔德菌,具有较强的体外抗菌活性。帕尼培南的体外药敏试验,鲍曼不动杆菌应采用MH培养基测定,铜绿假单胞菌应采用1:40 MH培养基测定,其抗菌作用与亚胺培南较为接近。     

血液病患者尿路感染病原谱及耐药性分析

目的：了解血液病患者尿路感染病原谱特点及耐药性,为临床合理选用抗菌药物治疗血液病患者尿路感染提供参考。方法对医院血液科2011年1月至2013年12月血液病患者尿培养标本分离的病原性细菌分布及耐药性进行分析,头孢噻肟／克拉维酸双纸片表型法筛选产超广谱β‐内酰胺酶（ESBLs）菌。结果共分离595株病原菌,426株革兰阴性菌,占71．6％。大肠埃希菌是居首位的病原菌,占33．4％。大肠埃希菌和肺炎克雷伯菌中产超广谱β‐内酰胺酶（ESBLs）菌的检出率分别为83．9％、82．8％。粪肠球菌与屎肠球菌检出率分别为7．9％和17．8％。结论血液病患者尿路感染主要病原菌以革兰阴性菌为主,表现为尿路感染产 ESBLs 肠杆菌科菌非常严重,应引起重视,根据敏感性试验选择合理抗菌药治疗尿路感染。     

嗜酸性粒细胞阳离子蛋白测定的影响因素探讨

目的探讨温度、抗凝剂(EDTA-K2)对血嗜酸性粒细胞阳离子蛋白(ECP)水平的影响。方法采用固相双位点酶放大化学发光法,分别对22例健康体检者在两种不同温度(25℃和37℃)的血清标本,以及在相同温度(37℃)下,加抗凝剂和不加抗凝剂的血标本进行ECP水平测定。结果25℃组和37℃组血清ECP水平分别为8.92±6.45μg/L(x±s)和19.87±12.16μg/L(x±s),两组有显著性差异(P<0.01);37℃温度下加抗凝剂和不加抗凝剂血标本的ECP水平分别为5.26±2.60μg/L(x±s)和19.87±12.16μg/L(x±s),两组也有显著性差异(P<0.001)。结论温度和抗凝剂(EDTA-K2)对血标本的ECP水平测定有不同程度的影响。     

Effect of antimicrobial peptides HNP-1 and hBD-1 on Staphylococcus aureus strains in vitro and in vivo

The aims of this study were: (i) To investigate the activity of recombinant AMPs HNP-1 and hBD-1 in combination with cefotaxime against Staphylococcus aureus strains (MSSA and MRSA) in vitro using checkerboard method; (ii) To investigate the activity of HNP-1 and hBD-1 encapsulated in silicon nanoparticles (niosomes) in the treatment of MRSA-infected wound in rats. For this S. aureus strains (MSSA and MRSA) were isolated from patients with diabetic foot infection. Cefotaxime, recombinant HNP-1 and hBD-1 (in all possible combinations with each other) were used for testing by the checkerboard method. Two niosomal topical gels with HNP-1/hBD-1 were prepared to treat MRSA-infected wounds in rats. Gels were administered once a day, the control group–without treatment. Wound healing rate was calculated on the 4th, 9th and 16th days of the experiment and compared using one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni correction. MIC of HNP-1 for MSSA and MRSA was the same–1 mg/L. MIC of hBD-1 for MSSA and MRSA was also the same–0.5 mg/L. Topical gels with niosomal HNP-1 (or hBD-1) showed a significantly faster wound healing in comparison with the control. The data obtained open up prospects for use of AMPs encapsulated in silica nanoparticles for the development of new antibiotics.     

Identification of a novel antimicrobial peptide,scolopendin 1, derived from centipede Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans and its antifungal mechanism

In this study, a novel antimicrobial peptide, scolopendin 1, was identified from adult centipedes, Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans using RNA sequencing. Scolopendin 1 exerted an antimicrobial activity without inducing haemolysis of human erythrocytes. In order to understand the antifungal mechanism, a reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay was performed, which indicated that scolopendin 1 induced ROS accumulation in Candida albicans. Evaluation of fungal viability using N‐acetyl cysteine, a ROS scavenger, suggested that ROS are a major factor in scolopendin 1‐induced fungal cell death. Co‐staining of annexin V‐fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and propidium iodide, and TUNEL and 4′,6‐diamidino‐2‐phenylindole (DAPI) assays confirmed that ROS‐induced fungal cell death is associated with apoptosis. To further investigate the mechanism that facilitates the progression of apoptosis, changes in intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration and mitochondrial dysfunction were examined. Ca²⁺, a signalling molecule in the apoptotic pathway, was increased in the cytosol and mitochondria, and ROS accumulation triggered mitochondrial depolarization and the release of cytochrome c, a pro‐apoptotic factor, from the mitochondria to the cytosol. Finally, the released cytochrome c activated intracellular caspase. The present study suggests that scolopendin 1 could emerge as a model molecule that targets the apoptotic pathway and provides a novel remedy.