CONCLUSION: These data stress that more biotechnology-oriented studies should be conducted on neglected protists, such ciliates, which could become valuable sources of novel bioactive molecules for therapeutic uses.
BMC Microbiol. 2023 Mar 25;23(1):82. doi: 10.1186/s12866-023-02817-w.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The emergence of multi-resistant pathogens have increased dramatically in recent years, becoming a major public-health concern. Among other promising antimicrobial molecules with potential to assist in this worldwide struggle, cysteine-stabilized αβ (CS-αβ) defensins are attracting attention due their efficacy, stability, and broad spectrum against viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protists, including many known human pathogens.
RESULTS: Here, 23 genomes of ciliated protists were screened and two CS-αβ defensins with a likely antifungal activity were identified and characterized, using bioinformatics, from a culturable freshwater species, Laurentiella sp. (LsAMP-1 and LsAMP-2). Although any potential cellular ligand could be predicted for LsAMP-2; evidences from structural, molecular dynamics, and docking analyses suggest that LsAMP-1 may form stably associations with phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphates (PIP2), a phospholipid found on many eukaryotic cells, which could, in turn, represent an anchorage mechanism within plasma membrane of targeted cells.
CONCLUSION: These data stress that more biotechnology-oriented studies should be conducted on neglected protists, such ciliates, which could become valuable sources of novel bioactive molecules for therapeutic uses.
PMID:36966312 | DOI:10.1186/s12866-023-02817-w