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Nisin Induces Cell-Cycle Arrest in Free-Living Amoebae Acanthamoeba castellanii

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Abstract

Purpose

Acanthamoeba spp. are free-living amoebas with worldwide distribution and play an important role as disease-causing agents in humans. Drug inability to completely eradicate these parasites along with their toxic effects suggest urgent need for new antimicrobials. Nisin is a natural antimicrobial peptide produced by Lactococcus lactis. Nisin is also the only bacteriocin approved for use in food preservation. In this work, we analyzed the effect of nisin on the growth of Acanthamoeba castellanii trophozoites.

Methods

A total of 8 × 104 trophozoites were exposed to increasing concentrations of nisin to determine its activity. Changes in cell membrane and cellular cycle of trophozoites were investigated by flow cytometry, and nisin cytotoxicity in mammalian cells was evaluated in L929 cells by MTT method.

Results

After 24 h exposure to increasing nisin concentrations, an IC50 of 4493.2 IU mL−1 was obtained for A. castellanii trophozoites. However, after 72 h a recovery in amoebic growth was observed, and it was no longer possible to determine IC50. Flow cytometry analysis showed that nisin has no effect on the membrane integrity. Treatment with nisin induced cell-cycle arrest during G1 and S phases in A. castellanii trophozoites, which recovered their growth after 72 h.

Conclusion

This is one of the first studies showing the effect of internationally approved nisin against A. castellanii trophozoites. Nisin caused cell-cycle arrest in trophozoites, momentarily interfering with the DNA replication process. The data highlight the amoebostatic activity of nisin, and suggest its use as an adjuvant for the treatment of infections caused by Acanthamoeba spp.

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Acknowledgements

This study was partly financed by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES-Finance Code 001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Entomologia e Parasitologia Tropical, Departamento de Morfologia, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Sergipe, 49100-000, Brazil

    Marianna de Carvalho Clímaco , Yrna Lorena Matos de Oliveira, Anne Caroline Santos Ramos, Jucicleide Ramos-de-Souza, Audrey Rouse Soares Tavares Silva & Silvio Santana Dolabella

  2. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia Industrial, Universidade Tiradentes, Aracaju, Sergipe, Brazil

    Sona Jain

  3. Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Marilise Brittes Rott

  4. Laboratório de Biologia e Imunologia de Câncer e Leishmania, Departamento de Morfologia, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Sergipe, Brazil

    Audrey Rouse Soares Tavares Silva, Ricardo Scher & Cristiane Bani Correa

  5. Laboratório de Bacteriologia, Departamento de Morfologia, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Sergipe, 49100-000, Brazil

    Ana Andrea Teixeira Barbosa

Authors
  1. Marianna de Carvalho Clímaco
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  2. Yrna Lorena Matos de Oliveira
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  3. Anne Caroline Santos Ramos
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  11. Silvio Santana Dolabella
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Contributions

SSD and AATB conceived the study and designed the experiments. MCC, YLMO, JRS and ARSTS performed the experiments. RS and CBC participated in the flow cytometry experiments and guided data interpretation. SSD, AATB, MCC, ACSR, SJ and MBR analyzed data and participated in the writing and revision of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Ana Andrea Teixeira Barbosa or Silvio Santana Dolabella.

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de Carvalho Clímaco , M., de Oliveira, Y.L.M., Ramos, A.C.S. et al. Nisin Induces Cell-Cycle Arrest in Free-Living Amoebae Acanthamoeba castellanii. Acta Parasit. 67, 511–517 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11686-021-00436-x

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