Phylloseptin-PBa—A Novel Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobial Peptide from the Skin Secretion of the Peruvian Purple-Sided Leaf Frog (Phyllomedusa Baltea) Which Exhibits Cancer Cell Cytotoxicity
Yuantai Wan,
Chengbang Ma,
Mei Zhou,
Xinping Xi,
Lei Li,
Di Wu,
Lei Wang,
Chen Lin,
Juan Chavez Lopez,
Tianbao Chen,
Chris Shaw
Affiliations
Yuantai Wan
Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University, Belfast BT9 7BL, Northern Ireland, UK
Chengbang Ma
Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University, Belfast BT9 7BL, Northern Ireland, UK
Mei Zhou
Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University, Belfast BT9 7BL, Northern Ireland, UK
Xinping Xi
Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University, Belfast BT9 7BL, Northern Ireland, UK
Lei Li
Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University, Belfast BT9 7BL, Northern Ireland, UK
Di Wu
Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University, Belfast BT9 7BL, Northern Ireland, UK
Lei Wang
Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University, Belfast BT9 7BL, Northern Ireland, UK
Chen Lin
College of Basic Medical Science, Zhejiang Chinese Medial University, Hangzhou 310053, China
Juan Chavez Lopez
Perubiotech Eirl, Santiago de Surco, Lima 33, Peru
Tianbao Chen
Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University, Belfast BT9 7BL, Northern Ireland, UK
Chris Shaw
Natural Drug Discovery Group, School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University, Belfast BT9 7BL, Northern Ireland, UK
Antimicrobial peptides from amphibian skin secretion display remarkable broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and are thus promising for the discovery of new antibiotics. In this study, we report a novel peptide belonging to the phylloseptin family of antimicrobial peptides, from the skin secretion of the purple-sided leaf frog, Phyllomedusa baltea, which was named Phylloseptin-PBa. Degenerate primers complementary to putative signal peptide sites of frog skin peptide precursor-encoding cDNAs were designed to interrogate a skin secretion-derived cDNA library from this frog. Subsequently, the peptide was isolated and identified using reverse phase HPLC and MS/MS fragmentation. The synthetic replicate was demonstrated to have activity against S. aureus, E. coli and C. albicans at concentrations of 8, 128 and 8 mg/L, respectively. In addition, it exhibited anti-proliferative activity against the human cancer cell lines, H460, PC3 and U251MG, but was less active against a normal human cell line (HMEC). Furthermore, a haemolysis assay was performed to assess mammalian cell cytotoxicity of Phylloseptin-PBa. This peptide contained a large proportion of α-helical domain, which may explain its antimicrobial and anticancer activities.
