Kassinatuerin-1: A peptide with broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity isolated from the skin of the hyperoliid frog, kassina senegalensis

Kassinatuerin-1 (GFMKYIGPLI¹⁰PHAVKAISDL²⁰I.NH₂) was isolated in high yield (75 nmol/g) from an extract of the skin of a Hyperoliid frog, the African running frog Kassina senegalensis and its sequence was confirmed by total synthesis. The peptide inhibited growth of the gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli (minimum inhibitory concentration, MIC = 4 μM), the gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (MIC = 8 μM), and the yeast Candida albicans (MIC = 70 μM). A structurally related peptide, kassinatuerin-2 (FIQYLAPLI¹⁰PHAVKAISDL²⁰I.NH₂) was also isolated in high yield (96 nmol/g) from the extract but was devoid of antimicrobial activity against these microrganisms. Kassinatuerin-1 may be classified with other linear, cationic antimicrobial peptides that can potentially adopt an amphipathic α-helical conformation but it contains almost no amino acid sequence identity with previously characterized bioactive peptides from frog skin. (C) 2000 Academic Press.