Anoplin, a novel antimicrobial peptide from the venom of the solitary wasp Anoplius samariensis.
A novel antimicrobial peptide, anoplin, was purified from the venom of the solitary wasp Anoplius samariensis. The sequence was mostly analyzed by mass spectrometry, which was corroborated by solid-phase synthesis. Anoplin, composed of 10 amino acid residues, Gly-Leu-Leu-Lys-Arg-Ile-Lys-Thr-Leu-Leu-NH2, has a high homology to crabrolin and mastoparan-X, the mast cell degranulating peptides from social wasp venoms, and, therefore, can be predicted to adopt an amphipathic alpha-helix secondary structure. In fact, the circular dichroism (CD) spectra of anoplin in the presence of trifluoroethanol or sodium dodecyl sulfate showed a high content, up to 55%, of the alpha-helical conformation. A modeling study of anoplin based on its homology to mastoparan-X supported the CD results. Biological evaluation using the synthetic peptide revealed that this peptide exhibited potent activity in stimulating degranulation from rat peritoneal mast cells and broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Therefore, this is the first antimicrobial component to be found in the solitary wasp venom and it may play a key role in preventing potential infection by microorganisms during prey consumption by their larvae. Moreover, this peptide is the smallest among the linear alpha-helical antimicrobial peptides hitherto found in nature, which is advantageous for chemical manipulation and medical application.
Konno
K
K
Center of Study of Social Insects, Department of Biology, Intitute of Biosciences of Rio Claro, São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil. kk-gon@rc.unesp.br
Hisada
M
M
Fontana
R
R
Lorenzi
C C
CC
Naoki
H
H
Itagaki
Y
Y
Miwa
A
A
Kawai
N
N
Nakata
Y
Y
Yasuhara
T
T
Ruggiero Neto
J
J
de Azevedo
W F
WF
Palma
M S
MS
Nakajima
T
T
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D015550:Cell Degranulation; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D005260:Female; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D014862:Wasp Venoms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D014863:Wasps
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D009842:Oligopeptides; D014862:Wasp Venoms; C443041:anoplin