Abstract
Endogenous antimicrobial peptides are exciting candidates as new antibacterial agents due to their broad antimicrobia spectra, highly selective toxicities and the difficulty for bacteria to develop resistance to these peptides. Marine invertebrates, which rely solely on innate immune system for host defense, are the spectacular resources for new antimicrobial compounds. In order to seek for new effective antibiotics, tissue homogenate of Bullacta exarata was treatedwith trypsin, and was isolated following ultrafiltration, gel chromatography and reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (reverse-phase HPLC). Antibacterial activities of the peptides purified from B. exarata were measured by the agar diffusion test and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). Three isolated peptides, BEP-1, BEP-2 and BEP-3, showed activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis. BEP-1 also showed activity against human pathogen strains (Staphylococcus epidermidis, E. coli and Methecillin-Resistant S. aureus). This research picked out three candidates for new effective antibiotics. Key words: Bullacta exarata, antimicrobial peptides, isolation and purification, antibacterial activity, minimal inhibitory concentration.
Highlights
Antimicrobial peptides are small peptides existing widely in mammals, amphibians, marine invertebrates and insects, and they appear to be one of the actors in innate immunity
In order to seek for new effective antibiotics, tissue homogenate of Bullacta exarata was treated with trypsin, and was isolated following ultrafiltration, gel chromatography and reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography
Antimicrobial peptides are the potent, broad spectrum antibiotics, and an important factor contributing to self-defense system against invading microorganisms, mediating humoral immunity (Bulet et al, 2004)
Summary
Antimicrobial peptides are small peptides existing widely in mammals, amphibians, marine invertebrates and insects, and they appear to be one of the actors in innate immunity. Antimicrobial peptides are the potent, broad spectrum antibiotics, and an important factor contributing to self-defense system against invading microorganisms, mediating humoral immunity (Bulet et al, 2004). These peptides have been demonstrated to kill fungi, viruses and cancerous cells (Brogden et al, 2003; Chen et al, 2003). A number of antimicrobial peptides have been isolated from organisms such as plants, insects, marine invertebrates and vertebrates including human being
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