Frontiers in Pharmacology (Dec 2021)

Antimicrobial and Anti-inflammatory Effects of a Novel Peptide From the Skin of Frog Microhyla pulchra

  • Maolin Tian,
  • Maolin Tian,
  • Junfang Liu,
  • Jinwei Chai,
  • Jiena Wu,
  • Xueqing Xu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2021.783108
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

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Brevinins are an important antimicrobial peptide (AMP) family identified in the skin of Ranidae frogs and generally contain a characteristic ranabox structure at their C-terminal sequence. Herein a novel AMP named brevinin-2MP has been identified from the skin of the frog Microhyla pulchra by molecular cloning. Brevinin-2MP (GVITDTLKGVAKTVAAELLRKAHCKLTNSC) with a high amphipathic α-helix in sodium dodecyl sulfate solutions can destroy bacterial cell membrane and kill microbes. Furthermore, brevinin-2MP has been found to inhibit the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced expression of pro-inflammatory NO, MCP-1, IL-6, and TNF-α via binding unidentified targets on the cell membrane and consequently suppressing the activation of MAPK/NF-κB signaling cascades induced by LPS in RAW 264.7 cells. Consistently, brevinin-2MP significantly alleviates the acute inflammatory response in carrageenan-induced mice paw. In conclusion, brevinin-2MP with anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties will be an ideal candidate drug molecule for bacterial inflammation treatment.

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