Artigo Produção Nacional Revisado por pares

Acanthoscurrin: a novel glycine-rich antimicrobial peptide constitutively expressed in the hemocytes of the spider Acanthoscurria gomesiana

2003; Elsevier BV; Volume: 27; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0145-305x(03)00058-2

ISSN

1879-0089

Autores

Daniel M. Lorenzini, Pedro Ismael da Silva, Andréa Cristina Fogaça, Philippe Bulet, Sirlei Daffre,

Tópico(s)

Insect Resistance and Genetics

Resumo

We report the isolation of a novel antimicrobial peptide, acanthoscurrin, from the hemocytes of unchallenged tarantula spider Acanthoscurria gomesiana. A combination of Edman degradation, mass spectrometry and cDNA cloning revealed the presence of two isoforms of acanthoscurrin, differing by two glycine residues. Both displayed cationic properties and a high percentage of glycine residues. However, acanthoscurrins have no structural similarities with already known glycine-rich antimicrobial peptides from animals and plants. As deduced from cDNA cloning and mass spectrometry, the amino acid sequence of acanthoscurrin begins with a putative signal peptide of 23 amino acids followed by the mature peptide, which is post-translationally modified by a C-terminal amidation. Acanthoscurrins are constitutively expressed in hemocytes and released to plasma following an immune challenge.

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