Isolation, antimicrobial activities, and primary structures of hamster neutrophil defensins.
Hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) neutrophil granules contain at least four microbicidal peptides belonging to the defensin family. These compounds were purified from granule acid extracts by reverse-phase chromatography and termed HaNP-1 to -4 (hamster neutrophil peptide). HaNP-1 and HaNP-3 revealed the most bactericidal activity, with a 50% inhibitory concentration of 0.3 to 0.8 microg/ml for Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes strains. The HaNP-4 was always isolated in concentrations exceeding about 10 times the concentrations of other hamster peptides, but its antibacterial activity as well as that of HaNP-2 was relatively lower, probably as a result of conserved Arg residue substitutions. Other microorganisms were also tested, and generally, hamster defensins exhibited less potency against gram-negative bacteria. The amino acid sequence of hamster defensins showed a high percentage of identity to the sequence of mouse enteric defensins, reaching about 60% identical residues in the case of HaNP-3 and cryptdin 3.
Institute of Molecular Biology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland.
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D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001770:Blood Bactericidal Activity; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006224:Cricetinae; D023082:Defensins; D005658:Fungi / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000737:chemistry*; D016415:Sequence Alignment
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D001798:Blood Proteins; D023082:Defensins