Clavanins, α‐helical antimicrobial peptides from tunicate hemocytes

FEBS Letters

Harwig, Sylvia S.L¹  Cho, Yoon¹  Cooper, Edwin L²  Zhao, Chengquan¹  Lee, I.Hee¹  Lehrer, Robert I¹ 

[1] Section of Molecular Host Defense, Department of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine, 10833 LeConte Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1690, USA;Laboratory of Comparative Immunology, Department of Neurobiology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1690, USA

关键词: α-Helical;    Antimicrobial peptide;    Tunicate;    Magainin;   

DOI  :  10.1016/S0014-5793(96)01374-9

学科分类：生物化学/生物物理

来源: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

【 摘 要 】

Hemocytes from the invertebrate Styela clava, a solitary tunicate, contained a family of four α-helical antimicrobial peptides that were purified, sequenced and named clavanins A, B, C and D. Each clavanin contained 23 amino acid residues and was C-terminally amidated. The tunicate peptides resembled magainins in size, primary sequence and antibacterial activity. Synthetic clavanin A was prepared and displayed comparable antimicrobial activity to magainins and cecropins. The presence of α-helical antimicrobial peptides in the hemocytes of a urochordate suggests that such peptides are primeval effectors of innate immunity in the vertebrate lineage.

【 授权许可】

Unknown