Antibacterial and antimalarial properties of peptides that are cecropin-melittin hybrids.
Solid phase synthesis was used to produce 5 hybrid peptides containing sequences from the antibacterial peptide, cecropin A, and from the bee venom toxin, melittin. Four of these chimeric peptides showed good antibacterial activity against representative Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial species. The best hybrid, cecropin A(1-13)-melittin(1-13) was 100-fold more active than cecropin A against Staphylococcus aureus. It was also a 10-fold better antimalarial agent than cecropin B or magainin 2. Sheep red cells were lysed by melittin at low concentrations, but not by the hybrid molecules, even at 50 times higher concentrations.
Boman
H G
HG
Department of Microbiology, University of Stockholm, Sweden.
Wade
D
D
Boman
I A
IA
Wåhlin
B
B
Merrifield
R B
RB
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000962:Antimalarials; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D001514:Bee Venoms / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D007301:Insect Hormones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008555:Melitten / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000187:drug effects; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000962:Antimalarials; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D001514:Bee Venoms; D007301:Insect Hormones; D010455:Peptides; D008555:Melitten; C031161:cecropin A