title: A novel antimicrobial peptide from skin secretions of the tree frog Theloderma kwangsiensis.
abstract: Most of amphibians belonging to family Rhacophoridae live in arboreal habitats. A large number of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been identified from amphibian skins. No antimicrobial peptide from Rhacophoridae amphibians has been reported. In this study, we purified and characterized a novel antimicrobial peptide, pleurain-a1-thel from skin secretions of the tree frog, Theloderma kwangsiensis. Its amino acid sequence was determined as RILTMTKRVKMPQLYKQIVCRLFKTC by Edman degradation, mass spectrometry analysis and cDNA cloning. There are two cysteines, which form an intra-molecular disulfide bridge, in the sequence of pleurain-a1-thel. Pleurain-a1-thel exerted potential antimicrobial activities against wide spectrum of microorganisms, including Gram-negative and -positive bacteria and fungi. It exerted little hemolytic activity in human or rabbit red cells. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of antimicrobial peptide from Rhacophoridae amphibians.
authors.affiliation: 1 Life Sciences College of Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China.
authors.forename: Hongli
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Yingying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Guoxiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mo
authors.forename: Yuzhu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Xiuwen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Ren
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011898:Ranidae / Q000502:physiology*; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D018076:DNA, Complementary