Chem. J. Chinese Universities ›› 2005, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (12): 2233.

• Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Antibacterial and Hemolytic Activities of the Reverse-sequence Analogs of a Melittin's C-terminal Segment

CHEN Su-Xia, SUN Xue-Jun, LI Shun-Zi, YAN Hu-Sheng   

  1. Institute of Polymer Chemistry,State Key Laboratory of Function Polymer Materials for Adsorption and Separation,Nankai University,Tianjin 300071,China
  • Received:2004-10-25 Online:2005-12-24 Published:2005-12-24

Abstract: Melittin is an amphipathic α-helical peptide with 26 amino acids.It has high antimicrobial activity and toxicity to eukaryotic cells.C-terminal 15-residue fragment of melittin(GLPALISWIKRKRQQ-NH2),(M(12-26)),retained some of the antimicrobial activity but lost most of the hemolytic activitiy.A series of reverse-sequence analogs of M(12-26) with various numbers of basic amino acid residues and various lengths of the hydrophobic segment were synthesized.In the reverse-sequence analogs,the positive charges introduced by the basic residues and the N-terminal amino group were gathered in the N-terminus,while the hydrophobic segment was located in the C-terminus.The results indicate both of the positive charge and the hydrophobicity of the reverse-sequence analogs were necessary for the antimicrobial and hemolytic activities.At least three N-terminal basic animo acids and eight amino acid residues for the hydrophobic segment were required for high antimicrobial activity.A 11-residue peptide,RetroMel(13-23) was the shortest peptide retaining the antimicrobial activity.All these of the reverse-sequence analogs possessed very low hemolysis.

Key words: Melittin; Reverse sequence; Antibacterial activity; Hemolytic aetivity, Melittin, Reverse sequence, Antibacterial activity, Hemolytic aetivity

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