Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Souza, Géssika Silva
• de Carvalho, Laís Pessanha
• de Melo, Edésio José Tenório
• da Silva, Flávia Camila Vieira
• Machado, Olga Lima Tavares
• Gomes, Valdirene Moreira
• de Oliveira Carvalho, André

Titel

A synthetic peptide derived of the β2–β3 loop of the plant defensin from Vigna unguiculata seeds induces Leishmania amazonensis apoptosis-like cell death

Ist Teil von

• Amino acids, 2019-11, Vol.51 (10-12), p.1633-1648

Ort / Verlag

Vienna: Springer Vienna

Erscheinungsjahr

2019

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

SpringerLink (Online service)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• For medical use of proteins and peptide-based drugs, it is desirable to have small biologically active sequences because they improve stability, reduce side effects, and production costs. Several plant defensins have their biological activities imparted by a sequence named γ-core. Vu -Def, a Vigna unguiculata defensin, has activity against Leishmania amazonensis , which is one etiological agent of leishmaniasis and for which new drugs are needed. Our intention was to understand if the region comprising the Vu -Def γ-core is responsible for the biological activity against L . amazonensis and to unveil its mechanism of action. Different microbiological assays with L . a mazonensis in the presence of the synthetic peptide A 36 , 42 , 44 γ 32-46 Vu -Def were done, as well as ultrastructural and fluorescent analyses. A 36 , 42 , 44 γ 32-46 Vu -Def showed biological activity similar to Vu -Def. A 36 , 42 , 44 γ 32-46 Vu -Def (74 µM) caused 97% inhibition of L . amazonensis culture and parasites were unable to regrow in fresh medium. The cells of the treated parasites showed morphological alterations by ultrastructural analysis and fluorescent labelings that corroborate with the data of the organelles alterations. The general significance of our work is based on the description of a small synthetic peptide, A 36 , 42 , 44 γ 32-46 Vu -Def, which has activity on L . amazonensis and that the interaction between A 36 , 42 , 44 γ 32-46 Vu -Def- L . amazonensis results in parasite inhibition by the activation of an apoptotic-like cell death pathway.