Biological Profiling of Coleoptericins and Coleoptericin-Like Antimicrobial Peptides from the Invasive Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis

Hirsch, Rolf; Wiesner, Jochen; Marker, Alexander; Bauer, Armin; Hammann, Peter; Vilcinskas, Andreas

doi:10.1007/5584_2018_276

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The increasing threat of multidrug-resistant bacteria and the lack of novel antibiotics in the development pipeline have encouraged the screening of AMPs to facilitate the discovery of alternative treatment options. Insects in ecological niches with heavy microbial loads offer a promising source of novel AMPs with potent antimicrobial properties [11,22,23]. We characterized nine AMPs from the rat-tailed maggots of the drone fly E. tenax, which thrive in contaminated aqueous habitats.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on our initial profiling experiments, the E. tenax AMPs show little or no antimicrobial activity when presented alone, with the exception of EtCec1-a. The efficacy of innate immunity in insects is enhanced by the co-expression and interaction of numerous AMPs [53][54][55]; hence, the lack of activity observed for individual AMPs is not surprising [23,56]. For example, in the bumble bee Bombus terrestris, the AMP abaecin targets the bacterial chaperone DnaK, but in Gram-negative bacteria abaecin only reaches its target when combined with the pore-forming AMP hymenoptaecin, which compromises the cell membrane [57].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Antimicrobial Peptides from Rat-Tailed Maggots of the Drone Fly Eristalis tenax Show Potent Activity against Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria

et al. 2020

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The spread of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria is an increasing threat to human health, because novel compound classes for the development of antibiotics have not been discovered for decades. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) may provide a much-needed breakthrough because these immunity-related defense molecules protect many eukaryotes against Gram-negative pathogens. Recent concepts in evolutionary immunology predict the presence of potent AMPs in insects that have adapted to survive in habitats with extreme microbial contamination. For example, the saprophagous and coprophagous maggots of the drone fly Eristalis tenax (Diptera) can flourish in polluted aquatic habitats, such as sewage tanks and farmyard liquid manure storage pits. We used next-generation sequencing to screen the E. tenax immunity-related transcriptome for AMPs that are synthesized in response to the injection of bacterial lipopolysaccharide. We identified 22 AMPs and selected nine for larger-scale synthesis to test their activity against a broad spectrum of pathogens, including multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Two cecropin-like peptides (EtCec1-a and EtCec2-a) and a diptericin-like peptide (EtDip) displayed strong activity against the pathogens, even under simulated physiological conditions, and also achieved a good therapeutic window. Therefore, these AMPs could be used as leads for the development of novel antibiotics.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antimicrobial Peptides from Rat-Tailed Maggots of the Drone Fly Eristalis tenax Show Potent Activity against Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria

et al. 2020

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“…Many insect AMPs, such as some Defensins, Thanatins and Coleoptericins, present low to no lithic activity against human erythrocytes [ 78 , 79 , 80 ]. Multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDR) have become a major healthcare problem, causing more than 35,000 deaths in the USA and approximately 33,000 deaths in Europe per year [ 81 ].…”

Section: Proposed Applications Of Insect Ampsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insect Antimicrobial Peptides: Advancements, Enhancements and New Challenges

Dho,

Candian,

Tedeschi

2023

Antibiotics

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Several insects are known as vectors of a wide range of animal and human pathogens causing various diseases. However, they are also a source of different substances, such as the Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs), which can be employed in the development of natural bioactive compounds for medical, veterinary and agricultural applications. It is well known that AMP activity, in contrast to most classical antibiotics, does not lead to the development of natural bacterial resistance, or at least the frequency of resistance is considered to be low. Therefore, there is a strong interest in assessing the efficacy of the various peptides known to date, identifying new compounds and evaluating possible solutions in order to increase their production. Moreover, implementing AMP modulation in insect rearing could preserve insect health in large-scale production. This review describes the current knowledge on insect AMPs, presenting the validated ones for the different insect orders. A brief description of their mechanism of action is reported with focus on proposed applications. The possible effects of insect diet on AMP translation and synthesis have been discussed.

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“…Most of these AMPs act as effector proteins known to act on the pathogens either by disrupting the membrane surface or the intracellular targets (“barrel‐stave” model), or solubilizing the membrane by interacting with lipid head groups on the pathogen cell surface (“carpet” model) (Dean et al 2010; Ntwasa et al 2012). The Coleoptericin family of AMPs from the invasive Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis has been suggested to act as adjuvants for multi‐drug resistant pathogens (Hirsch et al 2019). Further, silencing of Coleoptericin 1 in H. axyridis led to greater susceptibility of the beetle to the entomopathogen Pseudomonas entomophila that could be reversed by the injection of a synthetic Coleoptericin 1 peptide (Gegner et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial but not fungal challenge up‐regulates the transcription of Coleoptericin genes in Tenebrio molitor

Jang

Park

Kim

et al. 2020

Entomological Research

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Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are effector candidates that elicit humoral immunity in invertebrates. AMPs facilitate bacterial clearance by either physically disrupting the microbial membranes or the intracellular targets. In the Coleopteran pest, Tenebrio molitor, transcriptional regulation of AMPs has been studied in the context of innate immune signaling cascades and antimicrobial immunity. Here, we report the transcriptional response of three AMP genes, Coleoptericin A, B, and C (TmCole A, B and C) in T. molitor in response to bacterial (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus), and fungal (Candida albicans) challenges. These genes were expressed essentially in the gut and hemocytes followed by the integument tissue of the T. molitor larva. Further, these genes were highly expressed in the late-larval, pupal, and early adult stages. Furthermore, while all of these transcripts were highly upregulated in the fat body and Malpighian tubules after bacterial challenge, TmCole B and TmCole C were induced in the gut after E. coli challenge. Fungal stimulation was not required for the upregulation of the transcription of Coleoptericin genes in T. molitor.

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Biological Profiling of Coleoptericins and Coleoptericin-Like Antimicrobial Peptides from the Invasive Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis

Cited by 3 publications

References 47 publications

Antimicrobial Peptides from Rat-Tailed Maggots of the Drone Fly Eristalis tenax Show Potent Activity against Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria

Antimicrobial Peptides from Rat-Tailed Maggots of the Drone Fly Eristalis tenax Show Potent Activity against Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria

Insect Antimicrobial Peptides: Advancements, Enhancements and New Challenges

Bacterial but not fungal challenge up‐regulates the transcription of Coleoptericin genes in Tenebrio molitor

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