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The intracellular mechanism of action on Escherichia coli of BF2-A/C, two analogues of the antimicrobial peptide Buforin 2

  • Microbial Pathogenesis and Host-Microbe Interaction
  • Published:
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Abstract

In the present study, the antimicrobial peptides BF2-A and BF2-C, two analogues of Buforin 2, were chemically synthesized and the activities were assayed. To elucidate the bactericidal mechanism of BF2-A/C and their different antimicrobial activities, the influence of peptides to E. coli cell membrane and targets of intracellular action were researched. Obviously, BF2-A and BF2-C did not induce the influx of PI into the E. coli cells, indicating nonmemebrane permeabilizing killing action. The FITC-labeled BF2-A/C could penetrate the E. coli cell membrane and BF2-C penetrated the cells more efficiently. Furthermore, BF2-A/C could bind to DNA and RNA respectively, and the affinity of BF2-C to DNA was powerful at least over 4 times than that of BF2-A. The present results implied that BF2-A and BF2-C inhibited the cellular functions by binding to DNA and RNA of cells after penetrating the cell membranes, resulting in the rapid cell death. The structure-activity relationship analysis of BF2-A/C revealed that the cell-penetrating efficiency and the affinity ability to DNA were critical factors for determining the antimicrobial potency of both peptides. The more efficient cell-penetrating and stronger affinity to DNA caused that BF2-C displayed more excellent antimicrobial activity and rapid killing kinetics than BF2-A.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Science and Technology, Southwest University for Nationalities, ChengDu, 610041, Sichuan Province, P. R. China

    Gang Hao

  2. Institute of Food Nutrition and Safety, School of Food Science and Technology, JiangNan University, WuXi, 214122, Jiangsu Province, P. R. China

    Gang Hao, Yong-Hui Shi, Ya-Li Tang & Guo-Wei Le

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  1. Gang Hao
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  2. Yong-Hui Shi
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  3. Ya-Li Tang
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  4. Guo-Wei Le
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Correspondence to Guo-Wei Le.

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Hao, G., Shi, YH., Tang, YL. et al. The intracellular mechanism of action on Escherichia coli of BF2-A/C, two analogues of the antimicrobial peptide Buforin 2. J Microbiol. 51, 200–206 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-013-2441-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-013-2441-1

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