New Disulfide-Stabilized Fold Provides Sea Anemone Peptide to Exhibit Both Antimicrobial and TRPA1 Potentiating Properties.

Yulia A Logashina,Irina V Mosharova,Klara Stensvåg,Sergey A Kozlov,Runar Gjerp Solstad,Yulia A Palikova,Arkadii N Murashev,Konstantin S Mineev,Yaroslav A Andreev,Tor Haug,Victor A Palikov,Yuliya V Korolkova,Alexander S Arseniev,Igor A Dyachenko

doi:10.3390/toxins9050154

Abstract

A novel bioactive peptide named τ-AnmTx Ueq 12-1 (short name Ueq 12-1) was isolated and characterized from the sea anemone Urticina eques. Ueq 12-1 is unique among the variety of known sea anemone peptides in terms of its primary and spatial structure. It consists of 45 amino acids including 10 cysteine residues with an unusual distribution and represents a new group of sea anemone peptides. The 3D structure of Ueq 12-1, determined by NMR spectroscopy, represents a new disulfide-stabilized fold partly similar to the defensin-like fold. Ueq 12-1 showed the dual activity of both a moderate antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria and a potentiating activity on the transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1). Ueq 12-1 is a unique peptide potentiator of the TRPA1 receptor that produces analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects in vivo. The antinociceptive properties allow us to consider Ueq 12-1 as a potential analgesic drug lead with antibacterial properties.

Highlights

The phylum Cnidaria is considered the oldest extant lineage of venomous animals, and species within this phylum are known to produce a variety of bioactive compounds that they utilize for capturing and killing prey and for defense [1]
Specimens of the sea anemone U. eques were collected off the coast of Tromsø, Norway, and ectoderm secretions/mucus were obtained by electrical stimulation
In order to identify fractions with bioactive components, the extract was fractionated by preparative RP-High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

The phylum Cnidaria (including corals, hydroids, jellyfish, sea anemones and sea pens) is considered the oldest extant lineage of venomous animals, and species within this phylum are known to produce a variety of bioactive compounds that they utilize for capturing and killing prey and for defense [1]. All species within this phylum share a biological feature (which is likely due to common ancestry), the nematocysts; these are special cells designed to penetrate the skin of other animals. Anemonia sulcata produces neurotoxin-2, which is both neurotoxic and proposed to be antimicrobial [11,12,13]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion