title: Amino acid sequence of PR-39. Isolation from pig intestine of a new member of the family of proline-arginine-rich antibacterial peptides.
abstract: We recently isolated from pig intestine and characterized a 31-residue antibacterial peptide named cecropin-P1 with activity against Escherichia coli and several other Gram-negative bacteria. The isolation involved a number of batch-wise steps followed by several chromatography steps. The continued investigation of these antibacterial peptides has now yielded another antibacterial peptide with high activity against both E. coli and Bacillus megaterium. Amino acid analysis showed a very high content of proline (49 mol%) and arginine (26 mol%), an intermediate level of phenylalanine and low levels of leucine, tyrosine, isoleucine, and glycine. The primary structure was determined by a combination of Edman degradation, plasma desorption mass spectrometry and C-terminal sequence analysis by carboxypeptidase Y degradation using capillary zone electrophoresis for detection of liberated residues. The calculated molecular mass was 4719.7 Da, which is in excellent agreement with 4719 Da obtained by plasma desorption mass spectrometry. The peptide was named PR-39 (proline-arginine-rich with a size of 39 residues). The lethal concentration of the peptide was determined against six Gram-negative and four Gram-positive strains of bacteria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry II, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Agerberth
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bergman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carlquist
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Boman
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mutt
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jörnvall
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000737:chemistry*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D010455:Peptides; C072212:PR 39