The discovery identification and characteristion of antimicrobial peptides from amphibian frogs and scorpion venom

In Chapter 4, a novel potential antimicrobial peptide with the highly-conserved primary structure of phylloseptin peptide, named Phylloseptin-PDu (PSPDu), was identified and characterized from the skin secretion of a Hylidae frog, Phyllomedusaduellmani, using the ‘shotgun’ molecular cloning strategy and mass spectrometry. PSPDu exhibited a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against seven selected microorganisms, subsequently, based on the previous study ofChapter3, PSPDu was employed as a template to design a novel peptide Art-PSPDu, which is a nearly-perfect antimicrobial peptide exhibiting an enhanced antimicrobial activity against microorganisms with a significantly decreased cytotoxicity.

In Chapter 5, a novel antimicrobial peptide was identified and characterised from the venom of the scorpion, Androctonus australis. Hector, using the ‘shotgun’ molecular cloning strategy and mass spectrometry. Subsequently, several analogues were designed to investigate the relationship between cationicity and C-terminal amidation.

Hence, the results indicate that increasing the net charges on the traditional antibiotics may be an alternative method to enhance the activity of antibiotics against resistant bacteria.</p><p><i>Thesis is embargoed until 31 May 2024</i>.</p>