NP-6 (AMP) peptide

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have generated growing attention because of the increasing bacterial resistance. However, thediscovery and identification of AMPs have proven to be challenging due to the complex purification procedure associated withconventional methods. For the reasons given above, it is necessary to explore more efficient ways to obtain AMPs. Weestablished a new method for discovery and identification of novel AMPs by proteomics and bioinformatics fromZanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim seeds protein hydrolysate directly. This process was initially achieved by employing ultraperformance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry/mass (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS) spectrometry toidentify peptides derived from Z. bungeanum Maxim seed protein hydrolysates. Three online servers were introduced to predictpotential AMPs. Sixteen potential AMPs ranging from 1.5 to 2.7 kDa were predicted and chemically synthesized, one of which,designated NP-6, inhibited activity against all the tested strains according to antimicrobial assay. Time-killing assay indicated thatNP-6 could quickly kill almost all the Escherichia coli within 180 min and Staphylococcus aureus at 360 min. Moreover, thesimulation 3D structure of NP-6 was consisted of α-helix and random coil, and this was verified by circular dichroism (CD)spectra. At last, the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of E. coli and S. aureus treated by NP-6 demonstrated that NP-6had a significant effect on bacteria cell morphology. Our findings provide an efficient approach for discovery of AMPs, andZ. bungeanum Maxim seeds may be a nature resource to extract antimicrobial agents.