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Rational design of antimicrobial C3a analogues with enhanced effects against Staphylococci using an integrated structure and function-based approach.

Pasupuleti, Mukesh LU ; Walse, Björn ; Svensson, Bo ; Malmsten, Martin LU and Schmidtchen, Artur LU (2008) In Biochemistry 47(35). p.9057-9070
Abstract
The anaphylatoxin C3a and its inactivated derivative C3adesArg, generated during complement activation, exert direct antimicrobial effects, mediated via its C-terminal region [Nordahl et al. (2004) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 101, 16879-16884]. During evolution, this region of C3a displays subtle changes in net charge, while preserving a moderate but variable amphipathicity [Pasupuleti et al. (2007) J. Biol. Chem. 282, 2520-2528]. In this study, we mimic these evolutionary changes, employing a design approach utilizing selected amino acid substitutions at strategic and structurally relevant positions in the original human C3a peptide CNYITELRRQHARASHLGLA, followed by structure-activity studies incorporating sequence-dependent QSAR models... (More)
The anaphylatoxin C3a and its inactivated derivative C3adesArg, generated during complement activation, exert direct antimicrobial effects, mediated via its C-terminal region [Nordahl et al. (2004) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 101, 16879-16884]. During evolution, this region of C3a displays subtle changes in net charge, while preserving a moderate but variable amphipathicity [Pasupuleti et al. (2007) J. Biol. Chem. 282, 2520-2528]. In this study, we mimic these evolutionary changes, employing a design approach utilizing selected amino acid substitutions at strategic and structurally relevant positions in the original human C3a peptide CNYITELRRQHARASHLGLA, followed by structure-activity studies incorporating sequence-dependent QSAR models as tools for generation of C3a peptide variants with enhanced effects. While the native peptide and related amphipathic analogues of moderate positive net charge were active against the Gram-negative Escherichia coli, activity against the Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus was primarily observed for peptides characterized by a combination of a relatively high net charge (+6-7) and a propensity to adopt an alpha-helical conformation with amphipathic character. Such increased helicity and charge also conferred activity against the fungus Candida albicans. A central histidine residue (H11), evolutionarily conserved among vertebrates, conferred high selectivity toward microbes, while substitutions with leucine rendered the peptides hemolytic. Selected C3a analogues retained their specificity against staphylococci in the presence of human plasma, while showing low cytotoxicity. The work illustrates structure-activity relationships underlying the function and specificity of antimicrobial C3a and related analogues and provides insights into the forces that drive evolution of antimicrobial peptides. (Less)
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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Biochemistry
volume
47
issue
35
pages
9057 - 9070
publisher
The American Chemical Society (ACS)
external identifiers
  • wos:000258721200003
  • pmid:18690701
  • scopus:50849129565
  • pmid:18690701
ISSN
0006-2960
DOI
10.1021/bi800991e
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
86e18245-2dba-4b80-947f-e35502f51968 (old id 1223378)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18690701?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 08:46:19
date last changed
2022-01-29 03:59:03
@article{86e18245-2dba-4b80-947f-e35502f51968,
  abstract     = {{The anaphylatoxin C3a and its inactivated derivative C3adesArg, generated during complement activation, exert direct antimicrobial effects, mediated via its C-terminal region [Nordahl et al. (2004) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 101, 16879-16884]. During evolution, this region of C3a displays subtle changes in net charge, while preserving a moderate but variable amphipathicity [Pasupuleti et al. (2007) J. Biol. Chem. 282, 2520-2528]. In this study, we mimic these evolutionary changes, employing a design approach utilizing selected amino acid substitutions at strategic and structurally relevant positions in the original human C3a peptide CNYITELRRQHARASHLGLA, followed by structure-activity studies incorporating sequence-dependent QSAR models as tools for generation of C3a peptide variants with enhanced effects. While the native peptide and related amphipathic analogues of moderate positive net charge were active against the Gram-negative Escherichia coli, activity against the Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus was primarily observed for peptides characterized by a combination of a relatively high net charge (+6-7) and a propensity to adopt an alpha-helical conformation with amphipathic character. Such increased helicity and charge also conferred activity against the fungus Candida albicans. A central histidine residue (H11), evolutionarily conserved among vertebrates, conferred high selectivity toward microbes, while substitutions with leucine rendered the peptides hemolytic. Selected C3a analogues retained their specificity against staphylococci in the presence of human plasma, while showing low cytotoxicity. The work illustrates structure-activity relationships underlying the function and specificity of antimicrobial C3a and related analogues and provides insights into the forces that drive evolution of antimicrobial peptides.}},
  author       = {{Pasupuleti, Mukesh and Walse, Björn and Svensson, Bo and Malmsten, Martin and Schmidtchen, Artur}},
  issn         = {{0006-2960}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{35}},
  pages        = {{9057--9070}},
  publisher    = {{The American Chemical Society (ACS)}},
  series       = {{Biochemistry}},
  title        = {{Rational design of antimicrobial C3a analogues with enhanced effects against Staphylococci using an integrated structure and function-based approach.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/bi800991e}},
  doi          = {{10.1021/bi800991e}},
  volume       = {{47}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}