Study on antimicrobial activity of sturgeon skin mucus polypeptides (Rational Design, Self-Assembly and Application)

Beining Yang; Wei Li; Yuxuan Mao; Yuanhui Zhao; Yong Xue; Xinxing Xu; Yilin Zhao; Kang Liu

doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2024.101236

Study on antimicrobial activity of sturgeon skin mucus polypeptides (Rational Design, Self-Assembly and Application)

Food Chem X. 2024 Feb 16:21:101236. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2024.101236. eCollection 2024 Mar 30.

Authors

Beining Yang^{1

2}, Wei Li³, Yuxuan Mao⁴, Yuanhui Zhao^{1

2}, Yong Xue^{1

2}, Xinxing Xu², Yilin Zhao^{1

2}, Kang Liu^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Sanya Oceanographic Institution /College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Sanya/Qingdao, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Marine Food Processing & Safety Control, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong, China.
³ China Department of General Surgery, The District Hospital of Qingdao West Coast New Area, Qngdao, Shandong, China.
⁴ National Engineering Research Center for Wheat and Corn Deep Processing, College of Food Science and Engineering, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
⁵ College of Ocean Food and Biological Engineering, Jimei University, Xiamen, China.
⁶ National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Processing Technology for Aquatic Products, Xiamen, China.

Abstract

Despite the favorable biocompatibility of natural antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), their scarcity limits their practical application. Through rational design, the activity of AMPs can be enhanced to expand their application. In this study, we selected a natural sturgeon epidermal mucus peptide, AP-16 (APATPAAPALLPLWLL), as the model molecule and studied its conformational regulation and antimicrobial activity through amino acid substitutions and N-terminal lipidation. The structural and morphological transitions of the peptide self-assemblies were investigated using circular dichroism and transmission electron microscopy. Following amino acid substitution, the conformation of AL-16 (AKATKAAKALLKLWLL) did not change. Following N-terminal alkylation, the C₈-AL-16 and C₁₂-AL-16 conformations changed from random coil to β-sheet or α-helix, and the self-assembly changed from nanofibers to nanospheres. AL-16, C₈-AL-16, and C₈-AL-16 presented significant antimicrobial activity against Pseudomonas and Shewanella at low concentrations. N-terminal alkylation effectively extended the shelf life of Litopenaeus vannamei. These results support the application of natural AMPs.

Keywords: Antimicrobial activity; Antimicrobial peptide; Molecular design; Self-assembly; Sturgeon epidermal mucus.