Characterization of Two Antimicrobial Peptides from Antarctic Fishes (Notothenia coriiceps and Parachaenichthys charcoti).

• Published in: PLOS ONE
• Main Authors: Seung Chul Shin, In Hye Ahn, Do Hwan Ahn, Yung Mi Lee, Jungeun Lee, Jun Hyuck Lee, Han-Woo Kim, Hyun Park
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017
• Subjects: Medicine; R; Science; Q; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170821; https://doaj.org/article/a9dc391651514dd9b47f4a54861e1b34

We identified two antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with similarity to moronecidin in Antarctic fishes. The characteristics of both AMPs were determined using moronecidin as a control. Moronecidin, which was first isolated from hybrid striped bass, is highly salt-resistant, and possesses broad-spectrum activity against various microbes. The moronecidin-like peptide from Notothenia coriiceps exhibited a narrower spectrum of activity and a higher salt sensitivity than moronecidin. The AMP from Parachaenichthys charcoti exhibited similar antimicrobial activity to moronecidin, and similar salt sensitivity. In an experiment to identify toxic effects, both of the moronecidin-like peptides from the Antarctic fishes exhibited lower hemolytic activity than moronecidin. In spite of its low toxicity, the AMP from N. coriiceps is unlikely to be considered as a candidate for antibiotic development, owing to its narrow spectrum of activity and high salt sensitivity. In contrast, the high salt resistance and broad-spectrum activity of the AMP from P. charcoti could be more advantageous for clinical use than moronecidin, since it could kill bacteria under physiological conditions with low toxicity. A further comparison of these two AMPs from Antarctic fishes with other AMPs could help to reduce the toxicity of AMPs for clinical use.