The non‐enzymatic microbicidal activity of lysozymes

FEBS Letters

Porsch, Petra¹  Mahn, Andreas¹  Düring, Klaus¹  Gieffers, Werner²  Brinkmann, Olaf² 

[1] Federal Centre for Breeding Research on Cultivated Plants, Institute for Breeding Methods in Vegetables, Neuer Weg 22/23, D-06484 Quedlinburg, Germany;Max-Planck-Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, D-50829 Köln, Germany

关键词: Lysozyme;    Muramidase;    Amphipathic helix;    Non-enzymatic microbicidal activity;    Membrane disturbing activity;    Antimicrobial peptide;   

DOI  :  10.1016/S0014-5793(99)00405-6

学科分类：生物化学/生物物理

来源: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

【 摘 要 】

T4 lysozyme was thought to destroy bacteria by its muramidase activity. However, we demonstrate here that amphipathic helix stretches in the C-terminus of T4 lysozyme mediate its bactericidal and fungistatic activities. In heat-denatured T4 lysozyme, the enzymatic activity is completely abolished but unexpectedly, the antimicrobial functions remain preserved. Small synthetic peptides corresponding to amphipathic C-terminal domains of T4 lysozyme show a microbicidal activity. Its membrane disturbing activity was directly demonstrated for bacterial, fungal and plant cells but not in a hemolysis assay. Comparable results were obtained with hen egg white lysozyme. This opens up many new opportunities for optimization of lysozymes as antimicrobial agents in various applications by protein engineering.

【 授权许可】

Unknown