Antibacterial activity and modes of action of a novel hepcidin isoform from the shrimp scad, Alepes djedaba (Forsskål, 1775).

Hepcidin, initially identified in human blood ultrafiltrate as cysteine rich Liver Expressed Antimicrobial Peptide (LEAP-1), is a core molecular conduit between iron trafficking and immune response. Though a great share of studies has been focused on the iron regulatory function of hepcidins, investigations on the antimicrobial aspects are relatively less. The present study is aimed at identification of hepcidin from a teleost fish, Alepes djedaba followed by its recombinant expression, testing antibacterial property, stability and evaluation of cytotoxicity.

A novel anti-lipopolysaccharide factor from blue swimmer crab Portunus pelagicus and its cytotoxic effect on the prokaryotic expression host, E. coli on heterologous expression.

Background: Invertebrates like crabs employ their own immune systems to fight against a number of invasive infections. Anti-lipopolysaccharide factors (ALFs) are an important class of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) exhibiting binding and neutralizing activities against lipopolysaccharides.

Results: This study identified and characterized a novel homolog of ALF (Pp-ALF) from the blue swimmer crab Portunus pelagicus.

Characterisation of a novel crustin isoform from mud crab, (Forsskål, 1775) and its functional analysis in silico.

A 336-base pair (bp) sized mRNA sequence encoding 111 amino acid size crustin isoform (MC-crustin) was obtained from the gill sample of the green mud crab, . MC-crustin possessed an N-terminal signal peptide region comprising of 21 amino acid residues, followed by a 90 amino acid mature peptide region having a molecular weight of 10.164 kDa, charge + 4.

Functional characterization of a histone H2A derived antimicrobial peptide HARRIOTTIN-1 from sicklefin chimaera, Neoharriotta pinnata.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are gene encoded short peptides which play an important role in the innate immunity of almost all living organisms ranging from bacteria to mammals. Histones play a very important role in defense as precursors to bioactive peptides. The present study is an attempt to decipher the antimicrobial activity of a histone H2A derived peptide, Harriottin-1 from sicklefin chimaera, Neoharriotta pinnata.