title: Halocidin: a new antimicrobial peptide from hemocytes of the solitary tunicate, Halocynthia aurantium.
abstract: From hemocytes of the tunicate Halocynthia aurantium we purified a new antimicrobial peptide named halocidin. The native peptide had a mass of 3443 Da and comprised two different subunits containing 18 amino acid residues (WLNALLHHGLNCAKGVLA) and 15 residues (ALLHHGLNCAKGVLA), which were linked covalently by a single cystine disulfide bond. Two different monomers were separately synthesized and used to make three additional isoforms (15 residue homodimer, 18 residue homodimer, heterodimer). In antimicrobial assays performed with synthetic peptides of halocidin, it was confirmed that congeners of the 18 residue monomer were more active than those of the 15 residue monomer against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Hoseo University, Baebang-Myun Asan City, Choongnam-Do, South Korea.
authors.forename: Woong Sik
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Kyu Nam
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young Shin
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Myung Hee
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: In Hee
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000737:chemistry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000187:drug effects; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects; D014561:Urochordata
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D010455:Peptides; C460842:halocidin