Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Activity and Mode of Action of Magainin 2 against Drug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.

Min Kim,Na Kang,Seung Lee,Ji Lee,Yoonkyung Park,Eun Ha,Eunji Park,Seung Jeon,Seo Kim,Dong Shin,Jonggwan Park,Su Ko

doi:10.3390/ijms19103041

Abstract

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are promising therapeutic agents for treating antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. Previous studies showed that magainin 2 (isolated from African clawed fogs Xenopus laevis) has antimicrobial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The present study was conducted to investigate the antibacterial activity of magainin 2 against Acinetobacter baumannii. Magainin 2 showed excellent antibacterial activity against A. baumannii strains and high stability at physiological salt concentrations. This peptide was not cytotoxic towards HaCaT cells and showed no hemolytic activity. Biofilm inhibition and elimination were significantly induced in all A. baumannii strains exposed to magainin 2. We confirmed the mechanism of magainin 2 on the bacterial outer and inner membranes. Collectively, these results suggest that magainin 2 is an effective antimicrobial and antibiofilm agent against A. baumannii strains.

Highlights

The use of antibiotics for treating infections has resulted in the emergence of resistant strains [1]
We previously investigated magainin 2 (GIGKFLHSAKKFGKAFVGEIMNS), an antimicrobial peptide consisting of 23 amino acids isolated from the skin of the African clawed frog Xenopus laevis [25]
We examined the antimicrobial activity of magainin 2 against A. baumannii strains and its toxicity towards mammalian cells

Summary

Introduction

The use of antibiotics for treating infections has resulted in the emergence of resistant strains [1]. New antibiotic-resistant strains are becoming a problem worldwide because conventional antibiotics cannot be administered. A recent report using data from the Infectious Diseases Society of America and hospital-based surveillance research refers to the pathogens as “ESKAPE” [2,3]. The ESKAPE pathogens include Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species [4]. The ability of these bacteria groups to withstand antibiotic treatment is a major cause of hospital infections worldwide [5]. Acinetobacter baumannii has been reported as one of the most serious ESKAPE organisms resistant to antibiotics [6]

Methods

Results

Conclusion