Antimicrobial Peptides from Fish

Pharmaceuticals

Jorge A. Masso-Silva¹ 

[1] Department of Pediatrics and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07101, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: defensin;    pleurocidin;    cathelicidin;    hepcidin;    piscidin;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ph7030265

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are found widely distributed through Nature, and participate in the innate host defense of each species. Fish are a great source of these peptides, as they express all of the major classes of AMPs, including defensins, cathelicidins, hepcidins, histone-derived peptides, and a fish-specific class of the cecropin family, called piscidins. As with other species, the fish peptides exhibit broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, killing both fish and human pathogens. They are also immunomodulatory, and their genes are highly responsive to microbes and innate immuno-stimulatory molecules. Recent research has demonstrated that some of the unique properties of fish peptides, including their ability to act even in very high salt concentrations, make them good potential targets for development as therapeutic antimicrobials. Further, the stimulation of their gene expression by exogenous factors could be useful in preventing pathogenic microbes in aquaculture.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.