Antimicrobial Activities of Different Fractions from Mucus of the Garden Snail Cornu aspersum

Abstract

Natural products have long played a major role in medicine and science. The garden snail Cornu aspersum is a rich source of biologically active natural substances that might be an important source for new drugs to treat human disease. Based on our previous studies, nine fractions containing compounds with Mw <3 kDa; <10 kDa; <20 kDa; >20 kDa; >30 kDa>50 kDa and between 3 and 5 kDa; 5 and 10 kDa; and 10 and 30 kDa were purified from the mucus of C. aspersum and analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF). Seventeen novel peptides with potential antibacterial activity were identified by de novo MS/MS sequencing using tandem mass spectrometry. The different fractions were tested for antibacterial activity against Gram─ (Pseudomonas aureofaciens and Escherichia coli) and Gram+ (Brevibacillus laterosporus) bacterial strains as well the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium perfringens. These results revealed that the peptide fractions exhibit a predominant antibacterial activity against B. laterosporus; the fraction with Mw 10–30 kDa against E. coli; another peptide fraction <20 kDa against P. aureofaciens; and the protein fraction >20 kDa against the bacterial strain C. perfringens. The discovery of new antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) from natural sources is of great importance for public health due to the AMPs’ effective antimicrobial activities and low resistance rates.

Antimicrobial Efficiency of Aloe arborescens and Aloe barbadensis Natural and Commercial Products

“…Various natural raw materials from plants (fruits, herbs, seeds, spices, and vegetables), animals (eggs, milk, tissues, and mucus), microorganisms (bacteria and fungi), and their extracts are interesting, as they exhibit various pharmaceutical, medicinal, and other biological activities [1][2][3]. One of the most applied herbal medicines worldwide is A. barbadensis, a succulent plant with many beneficial properties.…”

Microbial diversity of garden snail mucus

“…Most of them have a positive net charge, pI < 7.0, and hydrophobic surface (GRAVY > 0). The mucus contains both cationic and anionic peptides, but cationic are dominant, which are characterized by an amphipathic structure and predominantly hydrophobic surfaces (Dolashki et al, 2020). This fact is considered a prerequisite for their antimicrobial activity—destruction of biological membranes and/or direct cell lysis (Brogden, 2005; Brown & Hancock, 2006; Dolashki et al, 2020; Giuliani et al, 2007).…”

“…Bioactive compounds, such as proteins, peptides, and glycopeptides, are present in the mucus of many mollusks (Pitt et al, 2015). Recently, many compounds with antimicrobial and antioxidant activity, as well as regenerative properties were detected in the snail mucus (Dolashki et al, 2020; Pitt et al, 2019; Vassilev et al, 2020). Dolashki et al (2020) found that different peptide and protein fractions from the mucus of garden snail C. aspersum , manifest antibacterial activity against Gram negative ( Pseudomonas aureofaciens and Escherichia coli ) and Gram positive ( Brevibacillus laterosporus ) bacterial strains as well the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium perfringens (Dolashki et al, 2020).…”

“…Different parts of the snail have different compositions of their biologically active substances. For example, several studies focused on shell (Chen et al, 2016; Latire et al, 2014), body (Iijima et al, 2003; Li et al, 2014), mucus (Dolashki et al, 2020; Greistorfer et al, 2017; Zhong et al, 2013; Ziomek et al, 2017), and hemolymph (Dharmu et al, 2007; Dolashka et al, 2011; Sperstad et al, 2011). Marine snails (Jo et al, 2017; Khan & Liu, 2019), as well as terrestrial ones (Chinaka et al, 2021; Pitt et al, 2015) are used for extraction of active substances.…”

Antibacterial, Antibiofilm and Anti-Virulence Activity of Biactive Fractions from Mucus Secretion of Giant African Snail Achatina fulica against Staphylococcus aureus Strains

“…Dolashki et al, 2020, reported three potential AMPs from the mucus secretion of the land snail Cornu aspersum , whose alignment in BLAST demonstrates high homology with hemocyanins isolated from snails Helix aspersa , Helix pomatia and Helix lucorum [ 38 ]. The authors of this study report that a comparison of the alignment of the amino acid sequence of the peptides of the mucosal secretion of H. aspersa with the CAMP (Collection of Anti-Microbial Peptides) databases revealed a high identity (greater than 70%) with known AMPs [ 38 ].…”