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

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-relate...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Microorganisms (Basel) Vol. 8; no. 5; p. 626
Main Authors:	Hirsch, Rolf, Wiesner, Jochen, Bauer, Armin, Marker, Alexander, Vogel, Heiko, Hammann, Peter Eugen, Vilcinskas, Andreas
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Switzerland MDPI AG 25-04-2020 MDPI
Subjects:	antibiotic Antibiotics Antiinfectives and antibacterials Antimicrobial peptides Aquatic habitats Automation Bacteria Cecropin Diptera Eristalis tenax Eukaryotes Gene expression Gram-negative bacteria Health aspects Humidity Immunity Immunology innate immunity Insects Lipopolysaccharides Liquid manure Maggots Microbial contamination Microorganisms Multidrug resistance Next-generation sequencing Pathogens Peptides Pest resistance Sewage Sewage tanks Storage tanks transcriptomics Germany United States > US antibiotic transcriptomics Gram-negative bacteria innate immunity Eristalis tenax antimicrobial peptides
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Summary:	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 (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 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.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	2076-2607 2076-2607
DOI:	10.3390/microorganisms8050626