Mechanistic insights on the antibacterial action of the kyotorphin peptide derivatives revealed by in vitro studies and Galleria mellonella proteomic analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The selected kyotorphin derivatives were tested to improve their antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity. The antimicrobial screening of the KTP derivatives were ascertained in the representative strains of bacteria, including Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. METHODS: Kyotorphin derivatives, KTP-NH2, KTP-NH2-DL, IbKTP, IbKTP-NH2, MetKTP-DL, MetKTP-LD, were designed and synthesized to improve lipophilicity and resistance to enzymatic degradation. Peptides were synthesized by standard solution or solid-phase peptide synthesis and purified using RP-HPLC, which resulted in >95 % purity, and were fully characterized by mass spectrometry and 1H NMR. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) determined for bacterial strains were between 20 and 419 µM. The direct effect of IbKTP-NH2 on bacterial cells was imaged using scanning electron microscopy. The absence of toxicity, high survival after infection and an increase in the hemocytes count was evaluated by injections of derivatives in Galleria mellonella larvae. Proteomics analyses of G. mellonella hemolymph were performed to investigate the underlying mechanism of antibacterial activity of IbKTP-NH2 at MIC. RESULTS: IbKTP-NH2 induces morphological changes in bacterial cell, many differentially expressed proteins involved in DNA replication, synthesis of cell wall, and virulence were up-regulated after the treatment of G. mellonella with IbKTP-NH2. CONCLUSION: We suggest that this derivative, in addition to its physical activity on the bacterial membranes, can elicit a cellular and humoral immune response, therefore, it could be considered for biomedical applications.

Temperature-Dependent Re-alignment of the Short Multifunctional Peptide BP100 in Membranes Revealed by Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy and Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

BP100 is a cationic undecamer peptide with antimicrobial and cell-penetrating activities. The orientation of this amphiphilic α-helix in lipid bilayers was examined under numerous conditions using solid-state 19 F, 15 N and 2 H NMR. At high temperatures in saturated phosphatidylcholine lipids, BP100 lies flat on the membrane surface, as expected. Upon lowering the temperature towards the lipid phase transition, the helix is found to flip into an upright transmembrane orientation. In thin bilayers, this inserted state was stable at low peptide concentration, but thicker membranes required higher peptide concentrations. In the presence of lysolipids, the inserted state prevailed even at high temperature. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that BP100 monomer insertion can be stabilized by snorkeling lysine side chains. These results demonstrate that even a very short helix like BP100 can span (and thereby penetrate through) a cellular membrane under suitable conditions.

The Neuroprotective Action of Amidated-Kyotorphin on Amyloid ß Peptide-Induced Alzheimer's Disease Pathophysiology.

Kyotorphin (KTP, l-tyrosyl-l-arginine) is an endogenous dipeptide initially described to have analgesic properties. Recently, KTP was suggested to be an endogenous neuroprotective agent, namely for Alzheimer's disease (AD). In fact, KTP levels were shown to be decreased in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with AD, and recent data showed that intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of KTP ameliorates memory impairments in a sporadic rat model of AD. However, this administration route is far from being a suitable therapeutic strategy. Here, we evaluated if the blood-brain permeant KTP-derivative, KTP-NH2, when systemically administered, would be effective in preventing memory deficits in a sporadic AD animal model and if so, which would be the synaptic correlates of that action. The sporadic AD model was induced in male Wistar rats through i.c.v. injection of amyloid ß peptide (Aß). Animals were treated for 20 days with KTP-NH2 (32.3 mg/kg, intraperitoneally (i.p.), starting at day 3 after Aß administration) before memory testing (Novel object recognition (NOR) and Y-maze (YM) tests). Animals were then sacrificed, and markers for gliosis were assessed by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis. Synaptic correlates were assessed by evaluating theta-burst induced long term potentiation (LTP) of field excitatory synaptic potentials (fEPSPs) recorded from hippocampal slices and cortical spine density analysis. In the absence of KTP-NH2 treatment, Aß-injected rats had clear memory deficits, as assessed through NOR or YM tests. Importantly, these memory deficits were absent in Aß-injected rats that had been treated with KTP-NH2, which scored in memory tests as control (sham i.c.v. injected) rats. No signs of gliosis could be detected at the end of the treatment in any group of animals. LTP magnitude was significantly impaired in hippocampal slices that had been incubated with Aß oligomers (200 nM) in the absence of KTP-NH2. Co-incubation with KTP-NH2 (50 nM) rescued LTP toward control values. Similarly, Aß caused a significant decrease in spine density in cortical neuronal cultures, and this was prevented by co-incubation with KTP-NH2 (50 nM). In conclusion, the present data demonstrate that i.p. KTP-NH2 treatment counteracts Aß-induced memory impairments in an AD sporadic model, possibly through the rescuing of synaptic plasticity mechanisms.

Antifungal and anti-biofilm activity of designed derivatives from kyotorphin.

Kyotorphin (KTP, l-tyrosyl-l-arginine) is an endogenous analgesic neuropeptide first isolated from bovine brain in 1979. Previous studies have shown that kyotorphins possess anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity. Six kyotorphins-KTP-NH2, KTP-NH2-DL, ibuprofen-conjugated KTP (IbKTP), IbKTP-NH2, N-methyl-D-Tyr-L-Arg, and N-methyl-L-Tyr-D-Arg-were designed and synthesized to improve lipophilicity and resistance to enzymatic degradation. This study assessed the antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity of these peptides. The antifungal activity of kyotorphins was determined in representative strains of Candida species, including Candida albicans ATCC 10231, Candida krusei ATCC 6258, and six clinical isolates-Candida dubliniensis 19-S, Candida glabrata 217-S, Candida lusitaniae 14-S, Candida novergensis 51-S, Candida parapsilosis 63, and Candida tropicalis 140-S-obtained from the oral cavity of HIV-positive patients. The peptides were synthesized by standard solution or solid-phase synthesis, purified by RP-HPLC (purity >95 %), and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance. The results of the broth microdilution assay and scanning electron microscopy showed that IbKTP-NH2 presented significant antifungal activity against Candida strains and antibiofilm activity against the clinical isolates. The absence of toxic activity and survival after infection was assessed after injecting the peptide in larvae of Galleria mellonella as experimental infection model. Furthermore, IbKTP-NH2 had strong antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria and fungi and was not toxic to G. mellonella larvae up to a concentration of 500 mM. These results suggest that IbKTP-NH2, in addition to its known effect on cell membranes, can elicit a cellular immune response and, therefore, is promising for biomedical application.

Tryptophan-Containing Cyclic Decapeptides with Activity against Plant Pathogenic Bacteria.

A library of 66 cyclic decapeptides incorporating a Trp residue was synthesized on solid phase and screened against the phytopathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae, Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. vesicatoria, and Erwinia amylovora. The hemolytic activity of these peptides was also evaluated. The results obtained were compared with those of a collection of Phe analogues previously reported. The analysis of the data showed that the presence of the Trp improved the antibacterial activity against these three pathogens. In particular, 40 to 46 Trp analogues displayed lower minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values than their corresponding Phe counterparts. Interestingly, 26 Trp-containing sequences exhibited MIC of 0.8 to 3.1 µM against X. axonopodis pv. vesicatoria, 21 peptides MIC of 1.6 to 6.2 µM against P. syringae pv. syringae and six peptides MIC of 6.2 to 12.5 µM against E. amylovora. Regarding the hemolysis, in general, Trp derivatives displayed a percentage of hemolysis comparable to that of their Phe analogues. Notably, 49 Trp-containing cyclic peptides showed a hemolysis ≤ 20% at 125 µM. The peptides with the best biological activity profile were c(LKKKLWKKLQ) (BPC086W) and c(LKKKKWLLKQ) (BPC108W), which displayed MIC values ranging from 0.8 to 12.5 µM and a hemolysis ≤ 8% at 125 µM. Therefore, it is evident that these Trp sequences constitute promising candidates for the development of new agents for use in plant protection.

Neuropeptide Kyotorphin Impacts on Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Glucocorticoid-Mediated Inflammatory Response. A Molecular Link to Nociception, Neuroprotection, and Anti-Inflammatory Action.

Neuropeptide kyotorphin (KTP) is a potent analgesic if administered directly into the brain. In contrast, KTP-amide (KTP-NH2) is analgesic, neuroprotective, and anti-inflammatory following systemic administration, albeit its mechanism of action is unknown. The aim of this study was to shed light on the mechanism of action of KTP-NH2 at the molecular level. KTP-NH2 does not inhibit the enkephalinases angiotensin-converting-enzyme and dipeptidyl-peptidase 3. Intravital microscopy showed that KTP-NH2 decreased the number of rolling leukocytes in a mouse model of inflammation induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Pretreatment with metyrapone abrogated the action of KTP-NH2. Interestingly, stimulating rolling leukocytes using CXCL-1 is also counteracted by the KTP-NH2, but this effect is not abrogated by metyrapone. We conclude that KTP-NH2 has dual action: a glucocorticoid-mediated action, which is dominant in the full-fledged LPS-induced inflammation model, and a glucocorticoid-independent mechanism, which is predominant in models in which leukocyte rolling is stimulated but inflammation is not totally developed.

Neuropeptide kyotorphin impacts on lipopolysaccharide-induced glucocorticoid-mediated inflammatory response: a molecular link to nociception, neuroprotection, and anti-inflammatory action

Neuropeptide kyotorphin (KTP) is a potent analgesic if administered directly into the brain. In contrast, KTP-amide (KTP-NH2) is analgesic, neuroprotective, and anti-inflammatory following systemic administration, albeit its mechanism of action is unknown. The aim of this study was to shed light on the mechanism of action of KTP-NH2 at the molecular level. KTP-NH2 does not inhibit the enkephalinases angiotensin-converting-enzyme and dipeptidyl-peptidase 3. Intravital microscopy showed that KTP-NH2 decreased the number of rolling leukocytes in a mouse model of inflammation induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Pretreatment with metyrapone abrogated the action of KTP-NH2. Interestingly, stimulating rolling leukocytes using CXCL-1 is also counteracted by the KTP-NH2, but this effect is not abrogated by metyrapone. We conclude that KTP-NH2 has dual action: a glucocorticoid-mediated action, which is dominant in the full-fledged LPS-induced inflammation model, and a glucocorticoid-independent mechanism, which is predominant in models in which leukocyte rolling is stimulated but inflammation is not totally developed.

Endothelium-Mediated Action of Analogues of the Endogenous Neuropeptide Kyotorphin (Tyrosil-Arginine): Mechanistic Insights from Permeation and Effects on Microcirculation.

Kyotorphin (KTP) is an endogenous peptide with analgesic properties when administered into the central nervous system (CNS). Its amidated form (l-Tyr-l-Arg-NH2; KTP-NH2) has improved analgesic efficacy after systemic administration, suggesting blood-brain barrier (BBB) crossing. KTP-NH2 also has anti-inflammatory action impacting on microcirculation. In this work, selected derivatives of KTP-NH2 were synthesized to improve lipophilicity and resistance to enzymatic degradation while introducing only minor changes in the chemical structure: N-terminal methylation and/or use of d amino acid residues. Intravital microscopy data show that KTP-NH2 having a d-Tyr residue, KTP-NH2-DL, efficiently decreases the number of leukocyte rolling in a murine model of inflammation induced by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS): down to 46% after 30 min with 96 µM KTP-NH2-DL. The same molecule has lower ability to permeate membranes (relative permeability of 0.38) and no significant activity in a behavioral test which evaluates thermal nociception (hot-plate test). On the contrary, methylated isomers at 96 µM increase leukocyte rolling up to nearly 5-fold after 30 min, suggesting a proinflammatory activity. They have maximal ability to permeate membranes (relative permeability of 0.8) and induce long-lasting antinociception.

Amidated and Ibuprofen-Conjugated Kyotorphins Promote Neuronal Rescue and Memory Recovery in Cerebral Hypoperfusion Dementia Model.

Chronic brain ischemia is a prominent risk factor for neurological dysfunction and progression for dementias, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). In rats, permanent bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (2VO) causes a progressive neurodegeneration in the hippocampus, learning deficits and memory loss as it occurs in AD. Kyotorphin (KTP) is an endogenous antinociceptive dipeptide whose role as neuromodulator/neuroprotector has been suggested. Recently, we designed two analgesic KTP-derivatives, KTP-amide (KTP-NH2) and KTP-NH2 linked to ibuprofen (IbKTP-NH2) to improve KTP brain targeting. This study investigated the effects of KTP-derivatives on cognitive/behavioral functions (motor/spatial memory/nociception) and hippocampal pathology of female rats in chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (2VO-rat model). 2VO-animals were treated with KTP-NH2 or IbKTP-NH2 for 7 days at weeks 2 and 5 post-surgery. After behavioral testing (week 6), coronal sections of hippocampus were H&E-stained or immunolabeled for the cellular markers GFAP (astrocytes) and NFL (neurons). Our findings show that KTP-derivatives, mainly IbKTP-NH2, enhanced cognitive impairment of 2VO-animals and prevented neuronal damage in hippocampal CA1 subfield, suggesting their potential usefulness for the treatment of dementia.

The anti-inflammatory action of the analgesic kyotorphin neuropeptide derivatives: insights of a lipid-mediated mechanism.

Recently, a designed class of efficient analgesic drugs derived from an endogenous neuropeptide, kyotorphin (KTP, Tyr-Arg) combining C-terminal amidation (KTP-NH2) and N-terminal conjugation to ibuprofen (Ib), IbKTP-NH2, was developed. The Ib moiety is an enhancer of KTP-NH2 analgesic action. In the present study, we have tested the hypothesis that KTP-NH2 is an enhancer of the Ib anti-inflammatory action. Moreover, the impact of the IbKTP-NH2 conjugation on microcirculation was also evaluated by a unified approach based on intravital microscopy in the murine cremasteric muscle. Our data show that KTP-NH2 and conjugates do not cause damage on microcirculatory environment and efficiently decrease the number of leukocyte rolling induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Isothermal titration calorimetry showed that the drugs bind to LPS directly thus contributing to LPS aggregation and subsequent elimination. In a parallel study, molecular dynamics simulations and NMR data showed that the IbKTP-NH2 tandem adopts a preferential "stretched" conformation in lipid bilayers and micelles, with the simulations indicating that the Ib moiety is anchored in the hydrophobic core, which explains the improved partition of IbKTP-NH2 to membranes and the permeability of lipid bilayers to this conjugate relative to KTP-NH2. The ability to bind glycolipids concomitant to the anchoring in the lipid membranes through the Ib residue explains the analgesic potency of IbKTP-NH2 given the enriched glycocalyx of the blood-brain barrier cells. Accumulation of IbKTP-NH2 in the membrane favors both direct permeation and local interaction with putative receptors as the location of the KTP-NH2 residue of IbKTP-NH2 and free KTP-NH2 in lipid membranes is the same.

Correlation between membrane translocation and analgesic efficacy in kyotorphin derivatives.

Amidated kyotorphin (L-Tyr-L-Arg-NH2; KTP-NH2) causes analgesia when systemically administered. The lipophilic ibuprofen-conjugated derivative of KTP-NH2 has improved analgesic efficacy. However, fast degradation by peptidases impacts negatively in the pharmacodynamics of these drugs. In this work, selected derivatives of KTP and KTP-NH2 were synthesized to combine lipophilicity and resistance to enzymatic degradation. Eight novel structural modifications were tested for the potential to transverse lipid membranes and to evaluate their efficacy in vivo. The rationale behind the design of the pool of the eight selected molecules consisted in the addition of individual group at the N-terminus, namely the tert-butyloxycarbonyl (Boc), γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), acetyl, butanoyl, and propanoyl or in the substitution of the tyrosine residue by an indole moiety and in the replacement of the peptidic bond by a urea-like bond in some cases. All the drugs used in the study are intrinsically fluorescent, which enables the use of spectrofluorimetry to sample the drugs in the permeation assays. The results show that the BOC and indolyl derivatives of KTP-NH2 have maximal ability to permeate membranes with concomitant maximal analgesic power. Overall, the results demonstrate that membrane permeation is correlated with analgesic efficacy. However, this is not the only factor accounting for analgesia. KTP-NH2 for instance has low passive permeation but is known to have central action. In this case, hypothetical transcytosis over the blood-brain barrier seems to depend on dipeptide transporters.

Antimicrobial peptides incorporating non-natural amino acids as agents for plant protection.

The control of plant pathogens is mainly based on copper compounds and antibiotics. However, the use of these compounds has some limitations. They have a high environmental impact and the use of antibiotics is not allowed in several countries. Moreover, resistance has been developed to these pathogens. The identification of new agents able to fight plant pathogenic bacteria and fungi will represent an alternative to currently used antibiotics or pesticides. Antimicrobial peptides are widely recognized as promising candidates, however naturally occurring sequences present drawbacks that limit their development. These include susceptibility to protease degradation and low bioavailability. To overcome these problems, research has focused on the introduction of unnatural amino acids into lead peptide sequences. In particular, we have improved the biological profile of antimicrobial peptides active against plant pathogenic bacteria and fungi by incorporating triazolyl, biaryl and D-amino acids into their sequence. These modifications and their influence on the biological activity are summarized.

Derivatives of the antimicrobial peptide BP100 for expression in plant systems.

Production of antimicrobial peptides in plants constitutes an approach for obtaining them in high amounts. However, their heterologous expression in a practical and efficient manner demands some structural requirements such as a minimum size, the incorporation of retention signals to assure their accumulation in specific tissues, and the presence of protease cleavage amino acids and of target sequences to facilitate peptide detection. Since any sequence modification may influence the biological activity, peptides that will be obtained from the expression must be screened prior to the synthesis of the genes for plant transformation. We report herein a strategy for the modification of the antimicrobial undecapeptide BP100 that allowed the identification of analogues that can be expressed in plants and exhibit optimum biological properties. We prepared 40 analogues obtained by incorporating repeated units of the antimicrobial undecapeptide, fragments of natural peptides, one or two AGPA hinges, a Gly or Ser residue at the N-terminus, and a KDEL fragment and/or the epitope tag54 at the C-terminus. Their antimicrobial, hemolytic and phytotoxic activities, and protease susceptibility were evaluated. Best sequences contained a magainin fragment linked to the antimicrobial undecapeptide through an AGPA hinge. Moreover, since the presence of a KDEL unit or of tag54 did not influence significantly the biological activity, these moieties can be introduced when designing compounds to be retained in the endoplasmic reticulum and detected using a complementary epitope. These findings may contribute to the design of peptides to be expressed in plants.

Side-effects of analgesic kyotorphin derivatives: advantages over clinical opioid drugs.

The adverse side-effects associated with opioid administration restrain their use as analgesic drugs and call for new solutions to treat pain. Two kyotorphin derivatives, kyotorphin-amide (KTP-NH2) and ibuprofen-KTP-NH2 (IbKTP-NH2) are promising alternatives to opioids: they trigger analgesia via an indirect opioid mechanism and are highly effective in several pain models following systemic delivery. In vivo side-effects of KTP-NH2 and IbKTP-NH2 are, however, unknown and were evaluated in the present study using male adult Wistar rats. For comparison purposes, morphine and tramadol, two clinically relevant opioids, were also studied. Results showed that KTP-derivatives do not cause constipation after systemic administration, in contrast to morphine. Also, no alterations were observed in blood pressure or in food and water intake, which were only affected by tramadol. A reduction in micturition was detected after KTP-NH2 or tramadol administrations. A moderate locomotion decline was detected after IbKTP-NH2-treatment. The side-effect profile of KTP-NH2 and IbKTP-NH2 support the existence of opioid-based mechanisms in their analgesic actions. The conjugation of a strong analgesic activity with the absence of the major side-effects associated to opioids highlights the potential of both KTP-NH2 and IbKTP-NH2 as advantageous alternatives over current opioids.

Multivalent display of the antimicrobial peptides BP100 and BP143.

Carbohydrates are considered as promising templates for the display of multiple copies of antimicrobial peptides. Herein, we describe the design and synthesis of chimeric structures containing two or four copies of the antimicrobial peptides KKLFKKILKYL-NH(2) (BP100) and KKLfKKILKYL-NH(2) (BP143) attached to the carbohydrate template cyclodithioerythritol (cDTE) or α-D-galactopyranoside (Galp). The synthesis involved the preparation of the corresponding peptide aldehyde followed by coupling to an aminooxy-functionalized carbohydrate template. After purification, the multivalent display systems were obtained in high purities (90-98%) and in good yields (42-64%). These compounds were tested against plant and human pathogenic bacteria and screened for their cytotoxicity on eukaryotic cells. They showed lower MIC values than the parent peptides against the bacteria analyzed. In particular, the carbopeptides derived from cDTE and Galp, which contained two or four copies of BP100, respectively, were 2- to 8-fold more active than the monomeric peptide against the phytopathogenic bacteria. These results suggest that preassembling antimicrobial peptides to multimeric structures is not always associated with a significant improvement of the activity. In contrast, the carbopeptides synthesized were active against human red blood cells pointing out that peptide preassembly is critical for the hemolytic activity. Notably, peptide preassembly resulted in an enhanced bactericidal effect.

Antimicrobial properties of analgesic kyotorphin peptides unraveled through atomic force microscopy.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are promising candidates as alternatives to conventional antibiotics for the treatment of resistant pathogens. In the last decades, new AMPs have been found from the cleavage of intact proteins with no antibacterial activity themselves. Bovine hemoglobin hydrolysis, for instance, results in AMPs and the minimal antimicrobial peptide sequence was defined as Tyr-Arg plus a positively charged amino acid residue. The Tyr-Arg dipeptide alone, known as kyotorphin (KTP), is an endogenous analgesic neuropeptide but has no antimicrobial activity itself. In previous studies new KTP derivatives combining C-terminal amidation and Ibuprofen (Ib) - KTP-NH(2), IbKTP, IbKTP-NH(2) - were designed in order to improve KTP brain targeting. Those modifications succeeded in enhancing peptide-cell membrane affinity towards fluid anionic lipids and higher analgesic activity after systemic injection resulted therefrom. Here, we investigated if this affinity for anionic lipid membranes also translates into antimicrobial activity because bacteria have anionic membranes. Atomic force microscopy revealed that KTP derivatives perturbed Staphylococcus aureus membrane structure by inducing membrane blebbing, disruption and lysis. In addition, these peptides bind to red blood cells but are non-hemolytic. From the KTP derivatives tested, amidated KTP proves to be the most active antibacterial agent. The combination of analgesia and antibacterial activities with absence of toxicity is highly appealing from the clinical point of view and broadens the therapeutic potential and application of kyotorphin peptides.

Peptidotriazoles with antimicrobial activity against bacterial and fungal plant pathogens.

We designed and prepared peptidotriazoles based on the antimicrobial peptide BP100 (LysLysLeuPheLysLysIleLeuLysTyrLeu-NH(2)) by introducing a triazole ring in the peptide backbone or onto the side chain of a selected residue. These compounds were screened for their in vitro growth inhibition of bacterial and fungal phytopathogens, and for their cytotoxic effects on eukaryotic cells and tobacco leaves. Their proteolytic susceptibility was also analyzed. The antibacterial activity and the hemolysis were influenced by the amino acid that was modified with the triazole as well as by the absence of presence of a substituent in this heterocyclic ring. We identified sequences active against the bacteria Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. vesicatoria, Erwinia amylovora, Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae (MIC of 1.6-12.5 µM), and against the fungi Fusarium oxysporum (MIC<6.2-12.5 µM) with low hemolytic activity (0-23% at 50 µM), high stability to protease digestion and no phytotoxicity. These peptidotriazoles constitute good candidates to design new antimicrobial agents.

Prediction of antibacterial activity from physicochemical properties of antimicrobial peptides.

Consensus is gathering that antimicrobial peptides that exert their antibacterial action at the membrane level must reach a local concentration threshold to become active. Studies of peptide interaction with model membranes do identify such disruptive thresholds but demonstrations of the possible correlation of these with the in vivo onset of activity have only recently been proposed. In addition, such thresholds observed in model membranes occur at local peptide concentrations close to full membrane coverage. In this work we fully develop an interaction model of antimicrobial peptides with biological membranes; by exploring the consequences of the underlying partition formalism we arrive at a relationship that provides antibacterial activity prediction from two biophysical parameters: the affinity of the peptide to the membrane and the critical bound peptide to lipid ratio. A straightforward and robust method to implement this relationship, with potential application to high-throughput screening approaches, is presented and tested. In addition, disruptive thresholds in model membranes and the onset of antibacterial peptide activity are shown to occur over the same range of locally bound peptide concentrations (10 to 100 mM), which conciliates the two types of observations.

Chemical conjugation of the neuropeptide kyotorphin and ibuprofen enhances brain targeting and analgesia.

The pharmaceutical potential of natural analgesic peptides is mainly hampered by their inability to cross the blood-brain barrier, BBB. Increasing peptide-cell membrane affinity through drug design is a promising strategy to overcome this limitation. To address this challenge, we grafted ibuprofen (IBP), a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, to kyotorphin (l-Tyr-l-Arg, KTP), an analgesic neuropeptide unable to cross BBB. Two new KTP derivatives, IBP-KTP (IbKTP-OH) and IBP-KTP-amide (IbKTP-NH(2)), were synthesized and characterized for membrane interaction, analgesic activity and mechanism of action. Ibuprofen enhanced peptide-membrane interaction, endowing a specificity for anionic fluid bilayers. A direct correlation between anionic lipid affinity and analgesic effect was established, IbKTP-NH(2) being the most potent analgesic (from 25 µmol · kg(-1)). In vitro, IbKTP-NH(2) caused the biggest shift in the membrane surface charge of BBB endothelial cells, as quantified using zeta-potential dynamic light scattering. Our results suggest that IbKTP-NH(2) crosses the BBB and acts by activating both opioid dependent and independent pathways.

Structural basis for the enhanced activity of cyclic antimicrobial peptides: the case of BPC194.

We report the molecular basis for the differences in activity of cyclic and linear antimicrobial peptides. We iteratively performed atomistic molecular dynamics simulations and biophysical measurements to probe the interaction of a cyclic antimicrobial peptide and its inactive linear analogue with model membranes. We establish that, relative to the linear peptide, the cyclic one binds stronger to negatively charged membranes. We show that only the cyclic peptide folds at the membrane interface and adopts a ß-sheet structure characterised by two turns. Subsequently, the cyclic peptide penetrates deeper into the bilayer while the linear peptide remains essentially at the surface. Finally, based on our comparative study, we propose a model characterising the mode of action of cyclic antimicrobial peptides. The results provide a chemical rationale for enhanced activity in certain cyclic antimicrobial peptides and can be used as a guideline for design of novel antimicrobial peptides.