Anti-chlamydial effect of plant peptides

• Published in: Acta microbiologica et immunologica Hungarica Vol. 61; no. 2; p. 229
• Main Authors: Balogh, Emese Petra, Mosolygó, Tímea, Tiricz, Hilda, Szabó, Agnes Míra, Karai, Adrienn, Kerekes, Fanni, Virók, Dezső P, Kondorosi, Eva, Burián, Katalin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hungary 01.06.2014
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides - chemical synthesis; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides - isolation & purification; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides - pharmacology; Bacterial Proteins - isolation & purification; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Chaperonin 60 - isolation & purification; Chaperonin 60 - metabolism; Chlamydia trachomatis - drug effects; Chlamydia trachomatis - growth & development; Chlamydia trachomatis - metabolism; HeLa Cells; Humans; Mass Spectrometry; Medicago truncatula - chemistry; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Molecular Sequence Data; Plant Proteins - chemical synthesis; Plant Proteins - isolation & purification; Plant Proteins - pharmacology; Protein Binding; Chlamydia; antimicrobial; NCR peptide
• DOI: 10.1556/AMicr.61.2014.2.12
• ISSN: 1217-8950

Even in asymptomatic cases of Chlamydia trachomatis infection, the aim of the antibiotic strategy is eradication of the pathogen so as to avoid the severe late sequelae, such as pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, and tubal infertility. Although first-line antimicrobial agents have been demonstrated to be predominantly successful in the treatment of C. trachomatis infection, treatment failures have been observed in some cases. Rich source of antimicrobial peptides was recently discovered in Medicago species, which act in plants as differentiation factors of the endosymbiotic bacterium partner. Several of these symbiotic plant peptides have proved to be potent killers of various bacteria in vitro. We show here that 7 of 11 peptides tested exhibited antimicrobial activity against C. trachomatis D, and that the killing activity of these peptides is most likely due to their interaction with specific bacterial targets.