Journal
WORLD JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY
Volume 38, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11274-021-03196-y
Keywords
Lanthipeptides; Lantibiotics; Natural antimicrobial peptides; Heterologous expression; Hemolysis; Cytotoxicity
Categories
Funding
- Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia-Ministerio da Ciencia, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (Portugal)
- POPH
- European Union [PD/BD/136880/2018, SFRH/BD/97099/2013, SFRH/BPD/92554/2013, SFRH/BPD/77900/2011]
- national funds (OE), through FCT-Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, I.P. [CEECIND/01463/2017]
- Cluster of Excellence Unifying Systems in Catalysis
- Coli4Lan project [FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027569]
- FCT-MCTES (PIDDAC)
- Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER), through the COMPETE-Programa Operacional Fatores de Competitividade (POFC)
- FCT/MCTES [UIDP/50017/2020, UIDB/50017/2020]
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [SFRH/BPD/92554/2013, SFRH/BD/97099/2013, PD/BD/136880/2018] Funding Source: FCT
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Lichenicidin is a promising natural antimicrobial peptide with strong bactericidal activity and no cytotoxicity towards human cells.
Lantibiotics are a promising class of natural antimicrobial peptides. Lichenicidin is a two-peptide lantibiotic in which two mature peptides act synergistically to exhibit full bioactivity. Considering the two-peptide lantibiotics described so far, only cytolysin has been deeply characterized in terms of toxicity towards eukaryotic cells and it was found to be hemolytic and cytotoxic. This work aimed to improve the production of lichenicidin in vivo and characterize its antibacterial activity and toxicity against human cells. Peptides were purified and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined against several strains; a time-kill assay was performed with Staphylococcus aureus. The hemolytic effect of lichenicidin was evaluated on blood samples from healthy donors and its toxicity towards human fibroblasts. The quantity of purified peptides was 1 mg/l Bli alpha and 0.4 mg/l Bli beta. MIC for methicillin-sensitive and resistant S. aureus (MSSA and MRSA) strains were 16-32 mu g/ml and 64-128 mu g/ml, respectively. At the MIC, lichenicidin took less than 3 h to eliminate MSSA, indicating a strong bactericidal effect. It induces cell lysis at the highest concentration, an effect that might be potentiated by Bli beta. Lichenicidin was not cytotoxic to human erythrocytes and fibroblasts. In this work, we evaluated the therapeutic potential of lichenicidin as a possible antimicrobial alternative.
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