δ-hemolysin, an update on a membrane-interacting peptide

• Published in: Peptides (New York, N.Y. : 1980) Vol. 30; no. 4; pp. 817 - 823
• Main Authors: Verdon, Julien, Girardin, Nicolas, Lacombe, Christian, Berjeaud, Jean-Marc, Héchard, Yann
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.04.2009; Elsevier
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Antimicrobial; Bacteria; Bacterial Proteins - chemistry; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Proteins - pharmacology; Biological and medical sciences; Cell Membrane - drug effects; Curvature strain; Detergent; Erythrocyte; Escherichia coli; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hemolysin Proteins - chemistry; Hemolysin Proteins - genetics; Hemolysin Proteins - pharmacology; Hemolysis; Humans; Legionella; Life Sciences; Molecular Sequence Data; Pore; Protein Conformation; Staphylococcus; Staphylococcus aureus; Structure-Activity Relationship; Vertebrates: endocrinology; Antimicrobial; Hemolysis; Erythrocyte; Detergent; Pore; Bacteria; Curvature strain; Staphylococcus; Peptides; Red blood cell; Antimicrobial agent; Blood cell; Antibacterial agent; detergent; curvature strain; bacteria; staphylococcus; hemolysis; erythrocyte
• ISSN: 0196-9781; 1873-5169
• DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2008.12.017

δ-hemolysin is a hemolytic peptide produced by Staphylococcus, and it has been studied for nearly 50 years. Therefore, it has become a model in the study of peptides interacting with membranes. In this review, we report some recent findings and compare them with previous works. δ-hemolysin is a 26 amino acid peptide, somewhat hydrophobic and presenting a zero net charge. Study of its structure has shown that δ-hemolysin is α-helical and amphipathic, such as many antimicrobial peptides (e.g. magainin and melittin). However, δ-hemolysin had not displayed any reported antimicrobial activity until a recent publication showed its high potency against Legionella. Its mode of action is based on direct interaction with target membranes. In accordance with its concentration, δ-hemolysin may slightly perturb a membrane or lead to cell lysis. Peptide charge plays an important role in its interaction with membranes, as is shown in the study of peptide variants. Some positively charged variants become highly hemolytic and even active against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Finally, it has recently been demonstrated that peptide preferentially binds to lipid-disordered domains. It has been postulated that as a result, enrichment in lipid-ordered domains might increase peptide concentration in lipid-disordered domains and thereby improve its activity.