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In Vitro Investigation of the Antibacterial Activity of Salamander Skin Peptides

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Abstract

Given the current and future costs of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to human health and economic productivity, there is an urgent need to develop new antimicrobial compounds. Antimicrobial peptides are a promising alternative to conventional antibiotics and other antimicrobials. Amphibian skin is a rich source of bioactive compounds, but the antibacterial properties of salamander skin peptides have been neglected. Here, we examined the in vitro ability of skin peptides from 9 species of salamander representing 6 salamander families to inhibit the growth of ESKAPE pathogens, which are bacteria that have developed resistance to conventional antibiotics. We also examined whether the skin peptides caused lysis of human red blood cells. Skin peptides from Amphiuma tridactylum had the greatest antimicrobial properties, completely inhibiting the growth of all bacterial strains except for Enterococcus faecium. Likewise, skin peptides from Cryptobranchus alleganiensis completely inhibited the growth of several of the bacterial strains. In contrast, skin peptide mixtures from Ambystoma maculatum, Desmognathus fuscus, Eurycea bislineata, E. longicauda, Necturus beyeri, N. maculosus, and Siren intermedia did not completely inhibit bacterial growth even at the highest concentrations. Finally, none of the skin peptide mixtures caused lysis of human red blood cells. Together, we demonstrate that salamander skin produces peptides with potent antibacterial properties. It remains to elucidate the peptide sequences and their antibacterial mechanisms.

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Data are available on request from the authors.

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Acknowledgements

We thank P. Clemenza, A. Magyan, L. Rajakumar, and T. Ricketts for help in method development. We thank K. Emerson, A. Millikin, L. Muse, B. Porter, and K. Regester for help collecting amphibian skin secretions. We thank J. Klousnitzer for completing the hemolysis assays. We thank R. Yurko and K. Islam for help with the RP-HPLC.

Funding

This research was supported through funding by the Samuel and Emma Winters Foundation, the Charles Henry Leach II Fund, the Pittsburgh Foundation, and Duquesne University (Community-Engaged Seed Grant Award) to SKW. It was also funded by the National Institutes of Health RO1 GM125917 to BD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Kenzie E. Pereira, Jakobi T. Deslouches & Sarah K. Woodley

  2. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Berthony Deslouches

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  1. Kenzie E. Pereira
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  2. Jakobi T. Deslouches
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Contributions

SKW and KEP conceived of the experiments; SKW, KEP, and BD designed the experiments; JTD and KEP executed the experiments, analyzed the results, and made figures; SKW and KEP wrote the first draft of the manuscript; all authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sarah K. Woodley.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

Animal collection and use were permitted by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (Permit No. 2020-01-0028), Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (Permit No. WPD-20-062) and approved by Duquesne University’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC Nos. 1708-07 and 1806-06). The human samples from which the red blood cells were isolated were from anonymous donors and commercially provided by the Central Blood Bank (Pittsburgh, PA, USA). Therefore, this did not require approval from the Institutional Review Board or any ethics committee.

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Pereira, K.E., Deslouches, J.T., Deslouches, B. et al. In Vitro Investigation of the Antibacterial Activity of Salamander Skin Peptides. Curr Microbiol 80, 214 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-023-03320-1

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