A Recombinant Snake Cathelicidin Derivative Peptide: Antibiofilm Properties and Expression in Escherichia coli

The emergence of antimicrobial resistance among pathogenic microorganisms has been led to an urgent need for antibiotic alternatives. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been introduced as promising therapeutic agents because of their remarkable potentials. A new modified cathelicidin-BF peptide (Cath-A) with 34 amino acid sequences, represents the potential antimicrobial effects against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) with slight hemolytic and cytotoxic activities on eukaryotic cells. In this study, the effects of Cath-A on Acinetobacter baumannii, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from medical instruments were studied. Cath-A inhibited the growth of bacterial cells in the range of 8–16 μg/mL and 16-≥256 μg/mL for A. baumannii and P. aeruginosa, respectively. The peptide significantly removed the established biofilms. To display a representative approach for the cost-effective constructions of peptides, the recombinant Cath-A was cloned in the expression vector pET-32a(+) and transformed to Escherichia coli BL21. The peptide was expressed with a thioredoxin (Trx) sequence in optimum conditions. The recombinant peptide was purified with a Ni(2+) affinity chromatography and the mature peptide was released after removing the Trx fusion protein with enterokinase. The final concentration of the partially purified peptide was 17.6 mg/L of a bacterial culture which exhibited antimicrobial activities. The current expression and purification method displayed a fast and effective system to finally produce active Cath-A for further in-vitro study usage.