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Effect of amino acid substitution in the staphylococcal peptides warnericin RK and PSMα on their anti-Legionella and hemolytic activities

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Abstract

Warnericin RK from Staphylococcus warneri and PSMα from Staphylococcus epidermidis are anti-Legionella peptides which were differently classified in a previous study according to their mode of action. Indeed, warnericin RK is highly hemolytic with a bactericidal mode of action, whereas PSMα is poorly hemolytic with a bacteriostatic mode of action toward L. pneumophila. In order to find anti-Legionella peptides which are not hemolytic, a collection of peptides varying in sequence from warnericin RK to PSMα were designed and synthesized, and their anti-Legionella activities, in terms of growth inhibition, permeabilization, and bactericidal effect, as well as their hemolytic activities, were measured and compared. The results showed that some residues, at position 14 for both peptides for instance, were of major importance for bactericidal and hemolytic activities.

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Acknowledgments

A. Marchand was supported by a grant from the French Minister of Research. We thank Dr. Thierry Jouenne who provided the first synthetic peptides used in our study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Poitiers, Ecologie & Biologie des Interactions, CNRS UMR7267 Equipe Microbiologie de l’Eau, 1 Rue Georges Bonnet, TSA 51106, 86073, Poitiers Cedex 9, France

    Adrienne Marchand, Clémence Loiseau, Julien Verdon & Jean-Marc Berjeaud

  2. Chimie Biologie des Membranes et Nanoobjets, CBMN, CNRS UMR5248-Université Bordeaux1, 14 allée Geoffroy de Saint Hilaire, 33600, Pessac, France

    Jacques Augenstreich & Sophie Lecomte

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  1. Adrienne Marchand
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  2. Jacques Augenstreich
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  3. Clémence Loiseau
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  4. Julien Verdon
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  5. Sophie Lecomte
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  6. Jean-Marc Berjeaud
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Correspondence to Jean-Marc Berjeaud.

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Marchand, A., Augenstreich, J., Loiseau, C. et al. Effect of amino acid substitution in the staphylococcal peptides warnericin RK and PSMα on their anti-Legionella and hemolytic activities. Mol Cell Biochem 405, 159–167 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-015-2407-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-015-2407-1

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