Antiviral Activity of a Turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) NK-Lysin Peptide by Inhibition of Low-pH Virus-Induced Membrane Fusion.

Alberto Falco,José Poveda,Melissa Bello-Perez,José Encinar,Beatriz Novoa,Regla Medina-Gali

doi:10.3390/md17020087

Abstract

Global health is under attack by increasingly-frequent pandemics of viral origin. Antimicrobial peptides are a valuable tool to combat pathogenic microorganisms. Previous studies from our group have shown that the membrane-lytic region of turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) NK-lysine short peptide (Nkl71–100) exerts an anti-protozoal activity, probably due to membrane rupture. In addition, NK-lysine protein is highly expressed in zebrafish in response to viral infections. In this work several biophysical methods, such as vesicle aggregation, leakage and fluorescence anisotropy, are employed to investigate the interaction of Nkl71–100 with different glycerophospholipid vesicles. At acidic pH, Nkl71–100 preferably interacts with phosphatidylserine (PS), disrupts PS membranes, and allows the content leakage from vesicles. Furthermore, Nkl71–100 exerts strong antiviral activity against spring viremia of carp virus (SVCV) by inhibiting not only the binding of viral particles to host cells, but also the fusion of virus and cell membranes, which requires a low pH context. Such antiviral activity seems to be related to the important role that PS plays in these steps of the replication cycle of SVCV, a feature that is shared by other families of virus-comprising members with health and veterinary relevance. Consequently, Nkl71–100 is shown as a promising broad-spectrum antiviral candidate.

Highlights

Community health is under attack by the continuous emergence of deadly viral outbreaks that result in serious pandemics such as the quite recent seasonal flu virus A (H1N1), avian influenza virus A (H5N1) and Ebola virus (EV) [1]
2019, 17, x report of our group, we showed that the peptide Nkl71–100 presents antiparasitic activity inhibiting the proliferation of Philasterides dicentrarchi, which is probably dependent on the rupture its membrane
71–100 due tothe thephospholipids scattered lightused produced the, size increase or aggregation of the phospholipid the scattered light produced by the size increase or aggregation of the phospholipid vesicles because because of the interaction with Nkl71–100

Summary

Introduction

Community health is under attack by the continuous emergence of deadly viral outbreaks that result in serious pandemics such as the quite recent seasonal flu virus A (H1N1), avian influenza virus A (H5N1) and Ebola virus (EV) [1]. The reasons that contribute to this scenario are diverse: (i) inefficient vaccines [3,4], (ii) stricter safety requirements for vaccines than for other drugs [5], (iii) focused efforts against the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) to the detriment of other viral diseases [6,7], (iv) the appearance of new viral pathogenic strains [1], (v) and resistance phenomena, among others. Renewed efforts to discover new broad-spectrum antiviral drugs are underway [1,7].

Methods

Results

Conclusion