Abstract
In addition to their well-known antibacterial activity some antimicrobial peptides and proteins (AMPs) display also antiviral effects. A 27 aa peptide from the N-terminal part of human bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) previously shown to harbour antibacterial activity inhibits the infectivity of multiple Influenza A virus strains (H1N1, H3N2 and H5N1) the causing agent of the Influenza pneumonia. In contrast, the homologous murine BPI-peptide did not show activity against Influenza A virus. In addition human BPI-peptide inhibits the activation of immune cells mediated by Influenza A virus. By changing the human BPI-peptide to the sequence of the mouse homologous peptide the antiviral activity was completely abolished. Furthermore, the human BPI-peptide also inhibited the pathogenicity of the Vesicular Stomatitis Virus but failed to interfere with HIV and measles virus. Electron microscopy indicate that the human BPI-peptide interferes with the virus envelope and at high concentrations was able to destroy the particles completely.
Highlights
Influenza is a very common infectious disease and the causing agent Influenza A virus is a very successful pathogen
The virus were pre-incubated with increasing amounts of human bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI)-peptide for 30 min, which was previously shown to harbour antibacterial activity [20], or with the respective homologous mouse BPI-peptide and added to the cells thereafter
We could recently demonstrate that a 27 aa acid peptide derived from the N-terminal part of the protein is able to inhibit the growth of even multi resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa very efficiently [20]
Summary
Influenza is a very common infectious disease and the causing agent Influenza A virus is a very successful pathogen. It constantly circulates in many animal hosts, such as humans, pigs, horses, dogs and birds. Annual epidemics of seasonal influenza result in millions of humans worldwide infected. This causes a prominent health and economic risk [1]; influenza pandemics can have devastating effects globally, resulting in millions of deaths [2]. Influenza A virus (IAV) is an enveloped negative-sense single-stranded RNA-virus of the orthomyxovirus family. Subtypes of IAV expressing different neuraminidase and PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0156929. Subtypes of IAV expressing different neuraminidase and PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0156929 June 6, 2016
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