Hydramacin-1 in action: scrutinizing the barnacle model.

ABSTRACT: Hydramacin-1 (HM1) from the metazoan Hydra exerts antimicrobial activity against a wide range of bacterial strains. Notably, HM1 induces the aggregation of bacterial cells, accompanied by precipitation. To date, the proposed mechanism of peptide-lipid interaction, termed the barnacle model, has not been described on the molecular level. Here, we show by biochemical and biophysical techniques that the lipid-peptide interactions of HM1 are initiated by electrostatic and hydrophobic effects, in particular, by tryptophan and neighboring polar amino acid residues that cause an interfacial localization of the peptide between two self-contained lipid bilayers. The high binding constants of HM1 upon lipid interaction are in the range of other potent antimicrobial peptides, e.g., magainin, and can

SUBMITTER: Michalek M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3697327 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature