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Based on the cathelicidin family antimicrobial peptide Hc-CATH derived from sea snake, the Hc-16 and Hc-15 of 16 and 15 amino acid residues, were designed. By using CCK8, minimal inhibitory concentration, ELISA and bio-layer interferometry assays, their cytotoxicity, antibacterial activity, anti-inflammatory activity, and LPS neutralization activity was examined. Compared with Hc-15, Hc-16 had lower cytotoxicity and better broad-spectrum antibacterial activity against pathogens including clinically resistant bacteria, with the minimum inhibitory concentration of only 4.69 μg/mL. Hc-16 inhibited the expression of inflammatory cytokines of TNF-α and IL-6 induced by LPS, so as to significantly reduce the inflammatory response induced by infection. In addition, structure-activity relationship studies have shown that the phenylalanine at the C- and N-terminals of Hc-16 played a crucial role in its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activity. Altogether, the designed Hc-16 has an excellent prospect to be developed into a novel antibiotic.
Subject(s)
Animals , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Anti-Infective Agents , Elapidae , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Pore Forming Cytotoxic ProteinsABSTRACT
Objective:To explore the relationship between resilience and social function in patients with bipolar disorder.Methods:A total of 127 patients with bipolar disorder were investigated using the questionnaires of Connor-Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC) and scale of social function of psychosis inpatients (SSFPI). The relationship between resilience and social function was analyzed by correlation analysis and stepwise multiple regression analysis.Results:The scores of resilience and social function of patients with bipolar disorder were (45.32±13.84) and (31.38±5.09) respectively.And the CD-RISC score of patients with bipolar disorder was positively correlated with the SSFPI total score ( r=0.499, P<0.01). The stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the social function of patients with bipolar disorder was affected by tenacity( β=0.336, t=3.42, P=0.001), the age of first onset( β=0.186, t=2.416, P=0.017)and strength( β= 0.205, t=2.053, P=0.042), accounted for 29.9% of the total variation. Conclusion:The resilience level of patients with bipolar disorder is positively related with social function.Resilience levels can influence social function, so effective and targeted measures should be taken to improve their resilience level in order to improve social function of patients with bipolar disorder.
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Objective@#To investigate the event-based prospective memory(EBPM) and time-based prospective memory(TBPM) in patients with euthymic bipolar disorder and to explore the relationships between prospective memory and temperament.@*Methods@#Fifty patients with euthymic bipolar disorder(case group) and forty-five demographic characteristic matched healthy controls(control group) were recruited.The neuropsychological battery of tests including EBPM and TBPM tasks were used to measured the prospective memory, and all participants completed the Chinese version of short temperament evaluation of the memphis(TEMPS-A). The differences in prospective memory and temperament between the case group and control group were compared by t test.Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between prospective memory and temperament.@*Results@#A statistically significant in EBPM was observed between patients with euthymic bipolar disorder and health controls ((3.66±0.69) vs (4.18±0.83), t=-3.313, P<0.01) and the same result was showed in TBPM ((3.06±0.96) vs (3.89±0.75), t=-4.674, P<0.01). The total score of TEMPS-A ((18.82±4.49) vs (9.69±3.37), t=11.106, P<0.01) and the scores of all the subscales were higher in case group than those in control group.The negative correlation was showed between the scores of depression temperament and TBPM (r=-0.425, P=0.002) in the case group.@*Conclusion@#The results suggest both EBPM and TBPM have impaired, and TBPM correlates with depression temperament moderately in the patients with euthymic bipolar disorder.
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In recent years, cancer has become a major concern in relation to human morbidity and mortality. Anticancer peptides (ACPs) are the bioactive peptide with antitumor activity and found in many organisms, including mammals, amphibians, insects, plants and microorganisms. ACPs have been suggested as promising agents for antitumor therapy due to their numerous advantages over traditional chemical agents such as low molecular masses, relatively simple structures, greater tumor selectivity, fewer adverse reactions, ease of absorption, a variety of routes of administration and low risk for inducing multi-drug resistance. Combining with the related research in our group, we summarized the mechanisms of ACPs to provide some directions for research and development of peptide-based anticancer drugs.
Subject(s)
Animals , Humans , Antineoplastic Agents , Neoplasms , PeptidesABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the CT features of hepatic echinococcosis in children.Methods Clinical and CT data of 27 cases with hepatic echinococcosis confirmed by pathology and/or serology were retrospectively analyzed.Results Totally there were 26 cases of cystic echinococcosis and 1 case of alveolar echinococcosis.Ten cases were with simple hepatic echinococcosis and 17 cases with other organic echinococcosis,18 cases of intrahepatic single hydatid and 9 cases of intrahepatic multiple hydatid.A total of 1 alveolar lesion and 47 cystic lesions were found,including unilocular cyst accounted for 51.06％ (24/47),cysts with collapse of the internal capsule accounted for 42.55％ (20/47),cysts with wall calcification accounted for 4.26％ (2/47) and multiple cysts accounted for 2.13％ (1/47).There was no solid lesions.The cyst diameters which were larger than 5 cm accounted for 74.47％ (35/47).Conclusion The CT can qualitatively diagnose hepatic echinococcosis in children.It is a reliable method of examination.
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Cathelicidins play critical roles in mammalian innate immune defense against invasive bacterial infection. In addition to their broad-spectrum bactericidal effect, cathelicidins are interesting peptide-based drug templates because they have multiple functions including anti-inflammatory, wound healing, and angiogenesis promotion. This article summarizes the aim and method of cathelicidin molecular designs. Residue mutation, fragment assembly, chemical modification, and construction of conjugates and dimers are usually used to increase the biological activities. Addition or deletion of certain residues, disruption of leucine zipper and phenylalanine zipper are used to reduce the hemolysis and cytotoxicity. By substituting L-amino acids with D-amino acids, circular constructions and immobilization, cathelicidins' in vitro and in vivo stability could be greatly enhanced, especially their proteinase resistance.
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The objective of this study was to construct an improved thioredoxin fusion protein expression system, and express the cathelicidin-derived peptide, Lf-CATH2. The improved fusion vector Lf-CATH2-pET32α(-TS) was successfully constructed by firstly deleting the thrombin site and S tag from the pET-32α vector, then inserting the Lf-CATH2 plus a thrombin site instead. Afterwards, Lf-CATH2 was expressed in Escherichia coli as fusion protein. After the cleavage by thrombin, Lf-CATH2 was released and subsequently separated using affinity chromatography. The antimicrobial activity of purified Lf-CATH2 was also examined. The improved expression vector significantly increased enzyme cleavage efficiency by 37%, and Lf-CATH2 could be expressed in high yield and maintain the biological activity. This novel thioredoxin fusion protein expression system enables a quick production of high-yield bioactive cationic peptides like cathelicidins.