A heterotetrameric alpha-amylase inhibitor from emmer (Triticum dicoccon Schrank) seeds.

Plants have developed a constitutive defense system against pest attacks, which involves the expression of a set of inhibitors acting on heterologous amylases of different origins. Investigating the soluble protein complement of the hulled wheat emmer we have isolated and characterized a heterotetrameric α-amylase inhibitor (ETI). Based on mass spectrometry data, it is an assembly of proteins highly similar to the CM2/CM3/CM16 found in durum wheat. Our data indicate that these proteins can also inhibit exogenous α-amylases in binary assemblies. The calculated dissociation constants (K(i)) for the pancreatic porcine amylase- and human salivary amylase-ETI complexes are similar to those found in durum and soft wheat. Homology modeling of the CM subunits indicate structural similarities with other proteins belonging to the cereal family of trypsin/α-amylase inhibitors; a possible homology modeled structure for a tetrameric assembly of the subunits is proposed.

Antimicrobial and antistaphylococcal biofilm activity from the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus.

AIMS: Staphylococcal biofilm-associated infections are resistant to conventional antibiotics. Consequently, new agents are needed to treat them. With this aim, we focused on the effector cells (coelomocytes) of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus immune system. METHODS AND RESULTS: We tested the activity of the 5-kDa peptide fraction of the cytosol from coelomocytes (5-CC) against a group of Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. We determined minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) ranging from 253.7 to 15.8 mg ml(-1). We observed an inhibitory activity and antibiofilm properties of 5-CC against staphylococcal biofilms of reference strains Staphylococcus epidermidis DSM 3269 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213. The antimicrobial efficacy of 5-CC against the biofilms of clinical strain Staph. epidermidis 1457 was also tested using live/dead staining in combination with confocal laser scanning microscopy. At a sub-MIC concentration (31 x 7 mg ml(-1)) of 5-CC the formation of young (6-h old) and mature (24-h old) staphylococcal biofilms was inhibited. CONCLUSIONS: The biological activity of 5-CC could be attributed to three peptides belonging to the sequence segment 9-41 of a beta-thymosin of P. lividus. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The effector cells of P. lividus represent an interesting source of marine invertebrates-derived antimicrobial agents in the development of new strategies to treat staphylococcal biofilms.