Abstract
Hepcidin was first identified as an antimicrobial peptide and later demonstrated that hepcidin is the long sought hormone to regulate iron homeostasis in mammals. Though its iron regulatory function has been extensively investigated, the studies on its antimicrobial properties are limited. The aim of current study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of synthetic porcine hepcidin (pHepc) in vitro against pathogen bacteria via radial diffusion, colony forming count, transmission electron microscopy and DNA binding assays. Our results showed that pHepc exerted little bactericidal activity, but possessed bacteriostatic activity by reducing the viable Escherichia coli K88, E. coli ATCC 25922, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Salmonella typhimurium CMCC 50013. pHepc-treated E. coli K88 exhibited longer cells and cytoplasm unevenly distribution, while pHepc-treated S. aureus led to cytoplasm leakage and partly lysis of bacterial cells. Gel retardation assay showed the existence of the binding affinity of pHepc for DNA. In addition, pHepc retained the bacteriostatic activity in a wide range of pH value from 4.0 to 8.0 or in the presence of iron, respectively. Considering the high expression in response to infection and the bacteriostatic activity, pHepc may be an important defense molecule for pig health.
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