Abstract
Hybridizing two known antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is a simple and effective strategy for designing antimicrobial agents with enhanced cell selectivity against bacterial cells. Here, we generated a hybrid peptide Lf-KR in which LfcinB6 and KR-12-a4 were linked with a Pro hinge to obtain a novel AMP with potent antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-biofilm activities. Lf-KR exerted superior cell selectivity for bacterial cells over sheep red blood cells. Lf-KR showed broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities (MIC: 4–8 μM) against tested 12 bacterial strains and retained its antimicrobial activity in the presence of salts at physiological concentrations. Membrane depolarization and dye leakage assays showed that the enhanced antimicrobial activity of Lf-KR was due to increased permeabilization and depolarization of microbial membranes. Lf-KR significantly inhibited the expression and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (nitric oxide and tumor necrosis factor‐α) in LPS-stimulated mouse macrophage RAW264.7 cells. In addition, Lf-KR showed a powerful eradication effect on preformed multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MDRPA) biofilms. We confirmed using confocal laser scanning microscopy that a large portion of the preformed MDRPA biofilm structure was perturbed by the addition of Lf-KR. Collectively, our results suggest that Lf-KR can be an antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-biofilm candidate as a pharmaceutical agent.
Highlights
Hybridizing two known antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is a simple and effective strategy for designing antimicrobial agents with enhanced cell selectivity against bacterial cells
The hybrid peptides, LI, LN, and LC designed by combining the typical fragment of human cathelicidin LL-37 with either indolicidin, pig nematode cecropin P1 (CP-1) or rat neutrophil peptide-1 (NP-1) displayed higher antimicrobial activity and lower hemolytic activity than its parental p eptides[7]
HPLC retention time is an important indicator of the relative hydrophobicity of the peptides
Summary
Hybridizing two known antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is a simple and effective strategy for designing antimicrobial agents with enhanced cell selectivity against bacterial cells. We generated a hybrid peptide Lf-KR in which LfcinB6 and KR-12-a4 were linked with a Pro hinge to obtain a novel AMP with potent antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-biofilm activities. We designed a hybrid peptide, Lf-KR, composed of LfcinB6 and KR-12-a4, to generate a novel AMP with enhanced cell selectivity for bacterial cells and LPS-neutralization activity along with minimal cytotoxicity. Introduction of Pro at the central position of some α-helical AMPs increased cell selectivity for bacterial cells than introduction of Gly or A la[20–22] For this reason, we chosen Pro as the linker in hybrid peptide Lf-KR. The secondary conformation of the peptides was measured in different aqueous solutions and a membrane mimicking environment by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
