Antimicrobial activity and mechanism of action of a novel cationic α-helical dodecapeptide, a partial sequence of cyanate lyase from rice.

CL(14-25), a dodecapeptide, that is a partial region near N-terminus of cyanate lyase (CL, EC 4.3.99.1) from rice (Oryza sativa L. japonica), contains three arginine and two lysine residues. It was a novel cationic α-helical antimicrobial peptide. The antimicrobial activity of CL(14-25) against Porphyromonas gingivalis, a periodontal pathogen, was quantitatively evaluated by a chemiluminescence method that measures ATP derived from viable cells. The 50% growth-inhibitory concentration of CL(14-25) against P. gingivalis cells was 145 µM. CL(14-25), even at a concentration of 800 µM, had no hemolytic activity. When giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) that mimic the membrane composition of Gram-negative bacteria were used, microscopy image analysis suggested that CL(14-25) disrupted GUVs in a detergent-like manner. Therefore, CL(14-25) appears to exhibit antimicrobial activity through membrane disruption. To investigate the contribution of cationic amino acid residues in CL(14-25) to its antimicrobial activity, we synthesized four truncated CL analogs, in which one or two cationic amino acid residues were deleted from the N- and C- termini of CL(14-25). The degrees of calcein leakage from large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) and 3,3'-dipropylthiadicarbocyanine iodide (diSC3-5) release from P. gingivalis cells induced by truncated CL analogs were closely related to their antimicrobial activities. CL analogs, which were truncated by removing an arginine residue from the N-terminus and a lysine residue from the C-terminus maintained their antimicrobial activity. However, CL analogs, which were further truncated by removing two arginine residues from the N-terminus, and an arginine and a lysine residue from the C-terminus, rarely exhibited antimicrobial activity.