Journal
EXPERIMENTAL PARASITOLOGY
Volume 122, Issue 3, Pages 247-249Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2009.03.019
Keywords
Leishmania; Plant antimicrobial peptide; Thionin; Defensin; Snakin; Lipid transfer protein
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Funding
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) [PIF 80F0171]
- Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria [FIS PI06115, RD 06/0021/0006, BIO2005-07198, BIO2003-4424, BIO2006-00488]
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The leishmanicidal activity of plant antibiotic peptides (PAPs) from the principal families, such wheat thionins, a barley lipid transfer protein and potato defensins and snakins were tested in vitro against Leishmania donovani. Only thionins and defensins were active against this human pathogen at a low micromolar range of concentrations. Thionins resulted as the most active peptides tested until now. They collapsed ionic and pH gradients across the parasite plasma membrane together with a rapid depletion of intracellular ATP without affecting mitochondrial potential. Hence the lethal effect of thionins was mostly associated to permeabilization of the plasma membrane leading to an immediate death of the parasite. The present work is the first evidence for leishmanicidal activity in plant peptides. Future prospects for their development as new antiparasite agents on human diseases are considered. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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