A role for whey acidic protein four-disulfide-core 12 (WFDC12) in the regulation of the inflammatory response in the lung.

INTRODUCTION: Secretory leucocyte protease inhibitor and elafin are members of the whey acidic protein (WAP), or WAP four disulfide-core (WFDC), family of proteins and have multiple contributions to innate defence including inhibition of neutrophil serine proteases and inhibition of the inflammatory response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). This study aimed to explore potential activities of WFDC12, a previously uncharacterised WFDC protein expressed in the lung. METHODS: Recombinant expression and purification of WFDC12 were optimised in Escherichia coli. Antiprotease, antibacterial and immunomodulatory activities of recombinant WFDC12 were evaluated and levels of endogenous WFDC12 protein were characterised by immunostaining and ELISA. RESULTS: Recombinant WFDC12 inhibited cathepsin G, but not elastase or proteinase-3 activity. Monocytic cells pretreated with recombinant WFDC12 before LPS stimulation produced significantly lower levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-8 and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 compared with cells stimulated with LPS alone. Recombinant WFDC12 became conjugated to fibronectin in a transglutaminase-mediated reaction and retained antiprotease activity. In vivo WFDC12 expression was confirmed by immunostaining of human lung tissue sections. WFDC12 levels in human bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from healthy and lung-injured patients were quantitatively compared, showing WFDC12 to be elevated in both patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome and healthy subjects treated with LPS, relative to healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: Together, these results suggest a role for this lesser known WFDC protein in the regulation of lung inflammation.

The Naturally Occurring Host Defense Peptide, LL-37, and Its Truncated Mimetics KE-18 and KR-12 Have Selected Biocidal and Antibiofilm Activities Against Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli In vitro.

Amongst the recognized classes of naturally occurring antimicrobials, human host defense peptides are an important group with an advantage (given their source) that they should be readily translatable to medicinal products. It is also plausible that truncated versions will display some of the biological activities of the parent peptide, with the benefit that they are less costly to synthesize using solid-phase chemistry. The host defense peptide, LL-37, and two truncated mimetics, KE-18 and KR-12, were tested for their inhibitory effects and antibiofilm properties against Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli, microorganisms commonly implicated in biofilm-related infections such as ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Using in silico prediction tools, the truncated peptides KE-18 and KR-12 were selected for minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and antibiofilm testing on the basis of their favorable cationicity, hydrophobic ratio, and amphipathicity compared with the parent peptide. Two methods were analyzed for determining peptide efficacy against biofilms; a crystal violet assay and an XTT [2,3-bis-(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide] assay. The biocidal activities (measured by MIC) and antibiofilm activities (measured by a crystal violet assay) appeared to be independent. LL-37 had no biocidal action against C. albicans (MIC > 250 µg/ml) but significant effects in both biofilm-prevention and biofilm-inhibition assays. KE-18 and KR-12 yielded superior MIC values against all three microorganisms. Only KE-18 had a significant effect in the biofilm-prevention assay, which persisted even at sub-MICs. Neither of the truncated peptides were active in the biofilm-inhibition assay. KE-18 was shown to bind lipopolysaccharide as effectively as LL-37 and to bind lipoteichoic acid more effectively. None of the peptides showed hemolytic activity against human erythrocytes at the concentrations tested. KE-18 should be considered for further development as a natural peptide-derived therapeutic for prevention of multi-species biofilm-related infections such as VAP.

Antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties of PGLa-AM1, CPF-AM1, and magainin-AM1: potent activity against oral pathogens.

Cationic amphipathic α-helical peptides are intensively studied classes of host defence peptides (HDPs). Three peptides, peptide glycine-leucine-amide (PGLa-AM1), caerulein-precursor fragment (CPF-AM1) and magainin-AM1, originally isolated from norepinephrine-stimulated skin secretions of the African volcano frog Xenopus amieti (Pipidae), were studied for their antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activities against oral and respiratory pathogens. Minimal effective concentrations (MECs), determined by radial diffusion assay, were generally lower than minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) determined by microbroth dilution. PGLa-AM1 and CPF-AM1 were particularly active against Streptococcus mutans and all three peptides were effective against Fusobacterium nucleatum, whereas Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albicans proved to be relatively resistant micro-organisms. A type strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was shown to be more susceptible than the clinical isolate studied. PGLa-AM1 displayed the greatest propensity to bind lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Escherichia coli, P. aeruginosa and Porphyromonas gingivalis. All three peptides showed less binding to P. gingivalis LPS than to LPS from the other species studied. Oral fibroblast viability was unaffected by 50 µM peptide treatments. Production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-8 by oral fibroblasts was significantly increased following treatment with 1 or 10 µM magainin-AM1 but not following treatment with PGLa-AM1 or CPF-AM1. In conclusion, as well as possessing potent antimicrobial actions, the X. amieti peptides bound to LPS from three human pathogens and had no effect on oral fibroblast viability. CPF-AM1 and PGLa-AM1 show promise as templates for the design of novel analogues for the treatment of oral and dental diseases associated with bacteria or fungi.

IQ-motif peptides as novel anti-microbial agents.

The IQ-motif is an amphipathic, often positively charged, α-helical, calmodulin binding sequence found in a number of eukaryote signalling, transport and cytoskeletal proteins. They share common biophysical characteristics with established, cationic α-helical antimicrobial peptides, such as the human cathelicidin LL-37. Therefore, we tested eight peptides encoding the sequences of IQ-motifs derived from the human cytoskeletal scaffolding proteins IQGAP2 and IQGAP3. Some of these peptides were able to inhibit the growth of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) comparable to LL-37. In addition some IQ-motifs had activity against the fungus Candida albicans. This antimicrobial activity is combined with low haemolytic activity (comparable to, or lower than, that of LL-37). Those IQ-motifs with anti-microbial activity tended to be able to bind to lipopolysaccharide. Some of these were also able to permeabilise the cell membranes of both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. These results demonstrate that IQ-motifs are viable lead sequences for the identification and optimisation of novel anti-microbial peptides. Thus, further investigation of the anti-microbial properties of this diverse group of sequences is merited.