Antimicrobial Activity of the Synthetic Peptide Scolopendrasin II from the Centipede Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans

Abstract

The centipede Scolopendra subpinipes mutilans is a medicinally important arthropod species. However, its transcriptome is not currently available and transcriptome analysis would be useful in providing insight into a molecular level approach. Hence, we performed de novo RNA sequencing of S. subpinipes mutilans using next-generation sequencing. We generated a novel peptide (scolopendrasin II) based on a SVM algorithm, and biochemically evaluated the in vitro antimicrobial activity of scolopendrasin II against various microbes. Scolopendrasin II showed antibacterial activities against gram-positive and -negative bacterial strains, including the yeast Candida albicans and antibiotic-resistant gram-negative bacteria, as determined by a radial diffusion assay and colony count assay without hemolytic activity. In addition, we confirmed that scolopendrasin II bound to the surface of bacteria through a specific interaction with lipoteichoic acid and a lipopolysaccharide, which was one of the bacterial cell-wall components. In conclusion, our results suggest that scolopendrasin II may be useful for developing peptide antibiotics.

Antimicrobial Activity of the Scolopendrasin V Peptide Identified from the Centipede Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans

“…The result showed that scolopendrasin V had broad antimicrobial activities against various microbes. The tendency of antimicrobial activities is consistent with our previous works [8,9]. Scolopendrasin peptides revealed strong antimicrobial activities against gramnegative bacteria, including antibiotic-drug-resistant gramnegative bacteria, but the peptides had less potent antimicrobial activities against gram-positive Staphylococcus species.…”

“…The primary amino acid sequence and molecular mass of the scolopendrasin V are shown in Table 1. Previously, the αhelical peptides scolopendrasin I, II, and VII have shown potent antimicrobial and anticancer activities [8,9,14]. Thus, we proposed that scolopendrasin V could be a valuable template for designing an antimicrobial peptide.…”

“…Previously, we analyzed the transcriptome of this centipede via RNA sequencing and identified large numbers of AMP candidates using bioinformatics tools based on the physicochemical properties of AMPs [7]. The selected AMPs showed various biological activities, such as antimicrobial [8,9], antifungal [10][11][12][13], anticancer [14], and immunomodulatory activities [15].…”

“…We previously identified that the scolopendrasin I, II, and VII peptides derived from the centipede transcripts exhibit antimicrobial and anticancer activities [8,9,14]. Here, we investigated the antimicrobial activities of the scolopendrasin V peptide against various bacteria, including acne-associated microbes and yeast.…”

Exploring the global animal biodiversity in the search for new drugs – Spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, sea spiders, centipedes, and millipedes

“…So far, these include the scolopins, the scolopendins, the scolopendrasins, and lactoferricin B-like peptide. Several of these compounds displayed potent activity against Gram-positive and Gramnegative bacteria as well as fungi while causing no or only moderate hemolysis [210][211][212][213][214][215][216]. The mechanism of action of these compounds may involve the activation of a potentially novel apoptotic pathway [217] following the accumulation of reactive oxygen species [214], binding to the surface of fungi or bacteria and interaction with certain membrane components [211,218,219], and/or the formation of pores in the cell membrane [215].…”