B1CTcu5: A frog-derived brevinin-1 peptide with anti-tuberculosis activity

• Published in: Peptides (New York, N.Y. : 1980) N.Y. : 1980), 2020-10, Vol.132, p.170373-170373, Article 170373
• Main Authors: Abraham, Parvin, Jose, Leny, Maliekal, Tessy Thomas, Kumar, R. Ajay, Kumar, K. Santhosh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: B1CTcu5; Cationic antibacterial peptides; Macrophage; Mycobacterium tuberculosis
• ISSN: 0196-9781; 1873-5169
• DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2020.170373

•B1CTcu5 peptide inhibited M. tuberculosis H37Rv at 12.5 μg/mL.•It successfully eliminated intracellular M. tuberculosis.•B1CTcu5 is nontoxic to THP1- derived macrophages.•B1CTcu5 induces morphological changes in the cell wall of M. tuberculosis. Tuberculosis (TB) is a devastating infectious disease that causes a high rate of mortality. Drugs with new modes of action are needed to overcome this scenario. Cationic antibacterial peptides can serve as a potential alternative to existing TB drugs as they target the entire bacterial membrane for activity, thereby reducing the probability of development of drug resistance. In this study, we report anti-tuberculosis activity of B1CTcu5, a peptide that belongs to brevinin-1 family of antimicrobial peptides. This peptide possesses potent in vitro inhibitory activity against M. tuberculosis at 12.5 μg/mL but was not active against M. smegmatis. B1CTcu5 successfully eliminated intracellular mycobacteria without inducing cytotoxicity to the human macrophages at the concentrations tested. This peptide can be used as a template to design peptide-based anti-tubercular agents.