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Dicentracin-Like from Asian sea bass Fish and Moronecidine-Like from Hippocampus Comes: Two Candidate Antimicrobial Peptides Against Leishmanina major Infection

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Abstract

Anti-Leishmanial drug therapy faces significant challenges related to cytotoxicity and drug resistance. Thus, new and efficient anti-Leishmanial drugs need to be identified. Due to their broad-spectrum antimicrobial and also immunomodulatory activities, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have attracted considerable attention. In this study, we comparatively assessed the anti-Leishmanial activities of two recently identified AMPs (dicentracin-like and moronecidine-like) and the well-known AMP piscidin from the hybrid striped bass. AMPs were first assessed against Leishmania major promastigotes using MTS. Subsequently, macrophages were infected with L. major and treated with AMPs to evaluate anti-amastigotes activity of AMPs, and non-infected macrophages were treated with AMPs to determine cytotoxicity against mammalian cells using MTS. The induction of factors limiting L. major growth (IL-12, TNF-α and reactive oxygen species (ROS)) by AMPs was measured by ELISA and dichlorofluorescin-diacetate (DCFH-DA) assay, respectively. Piscidin was more efficacious against L. major promastigotes as compared to dicentracine-like or moronocidin-like peptides, whereas, dicentracine-like and moronocidin-like peptide exhibited a higher activity against L. major amastigotes compared to piscidin. In turn, piscidin was most cytotoxic in non-infected macrophages compared to the other two AMPs. A direct association was observed between hydrophobicity of AMPs and their anti-promastigote and cytotoxic activities. Dicentracine-like or moronocidin-like peptides induced higher levels of IL-12, TNF-α and ROS in macrophages compared to piscidin. Collectively, our results suggest that dicentracine-like and moronocidin-like peptides represent potentially promising multi-functional therapeutic agents that might not only directly kill L. major but also induce anti-Leishmania factors that can limit L. major growth and intracellular survival.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Bushehr University of Medical Sciences for providing research budget. This was supported by a research Grant (Code: 1218) from Bushehr University of Medical Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Persian Gulf Marine Biotechnology Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Islamic Republic of Iran

    Mohsen Mohammadi, Parva Dehghani, Iraj Nabipour & Moradali Fouladvand

  2. School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Department of Medical Biotechnology - Tehran, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

    Amin Moradi Hasan-Abad

  3. Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

    Mona Roozbehani

  4. Institute of Parasitology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Andrew Hemphill

  5. Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Medicine, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Moallem Street, Bushehr, 7514633196, Islamic Republic of Iran

    Marzieh Taherzadeh & Moradali Fouladvand

  6. Department of Laboratory Sciences, School of Paramedical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Islamic Republic of Iran

    Mohammad Ali Mohaghegh

  7. Health Sciences Research Center, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Islamic Republic of Iran

    Mohammad Ali Mohaghegh

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  1. Mohsen Mohammadi
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Mohammadi, M., Moradi Hasan-Abad, A., Dehghani, P. et al. Dicentracin-Like from Asian sea bass Fish and Moronecidine-Like from Hippocampus Comes: Two Candidate Antimicrobial Peptides Against Leishmanina major Infection. Int J Pept Res Ther 27, 769–778 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10989-020-10125-4

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