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Antibacterial activity of recombinant hCAP18/LL37 protein secreted from Pichia pastoris

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Abstract

Human antimicrobial peptide CAP18/LL37 (hCAP18/LL37) was expressed in Pichia pastoris and its antibacterial activity was tested against pathogenic bacteria. The full length ORF of hCAP18/LL37 was cloned into the pPICZaA vector followed by integration into the genomic AOX1 gene of P. pastoris. Agar diffusion assay demonstrated that the different hCAP18/LL37 transformants showed various antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus luteus, and Salmonella gastroenteritis. The secreted form of hCAP18/LL37 exhibited its maximum activity after 72 h incubation with 2% methanol in MM media, not in BMM. This result suggests that the yeast secreted expression system can be used as a production tool of antimicrobial peptides for industrial or pharmaceutical application.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, 361-763, Republic of Korea

    Soon-ja Kim, Renshu Quan & Joong-Kook Choi

  2. Department of Animal Life Resource Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, 200-701, Republic of Korea

    Sung-Jin Lee

  3. Gyeonggi Regional Research Center, Hankyong National University, Ansung, 456-749, Republic of Korea

    Hak-Kyo Lee

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  1. Soon-ja Kim
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  2. Renshu Quan
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  3. Sung-Jin Lee
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  4. Hak-Kyo Lee
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Correspondence to Soon-ja Kim or Joong-Kook Choi.

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Kim, Sj., Quan, R., Lee, SJ. et al. Antibacterial activity of recombinant hCAP18/LL37 protein secreted from Pichia pastoris . J Microbiol. 47, 358–362 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-009-0131-9

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