Antimicrobial Activity of Molluscan Hemocyanins from Helix and Rapana Snails

• Published in: Current pharmaceutical biotechnology Vol. 17; no. 3; p. 263
• Main Authors: Dolashka, Pavlina, Dolashki, Aleksander, Van Beeumen, Jozef, Floetenmeyer, Matthias, Velkova, Lyudmila, Stevanovic, Stefan, Voelter, Wolfgang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands 01-03-2016
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Anti-Infective Agents - chemistry; Anti-Infective Agents - isolation & purification; Anti-Infective Agents - pharmacology; Gram-Negative Bacteria - drug effects; Helix (Snails) - chemistry; Hemocyanins - chemistry; Hemocyanins - isolation & purification; Hemocyanins - pharmacology; Hemocyanins - ultrastructure; Microscopy, Electron; Molecular Sequence Data; Molecular Weight; Sequence Alignment; Staphylococcus aureus - drug effects; Streptococcus - drug effects
• ISSN: 1873-4316
• DOI: 10.2174/1389201016666150907113435

For the first time the antimicrobial activities of hemocyanins from the molluscs Rapana venosa (RvH) and Helix aspersa (HaH) have been tested. From the hemolymph of the garden snail H. aspersa one structural subunit (βc-HaH ) and eight functional units (FUs, βc-HaH-a to βc-HaH-h) were isolated, and their N-terminal sequences and molecular weights, ranging between 45 and 65 kDa, determined. The antimicrobial test of the hemocyanins against different bacteria showed that only two FUs from Rapana, RvH1-b and RvH1-e, exhibit a low inhibition effect against Staphylococcus aureus. In contrast and surprisingly, the structural subunit βc-HaH of H. aspersa not only shows strong antimicrobial activities against S. aureus and the likewise Gram-positive Streptococcus epidermidis, but also against the Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli. We suggest that this subunit therefore has the potential to become a substitute for the commonly used antibiotics against which bacterial resistance has gradually been developed.