Antimicrobial Peptides Containing Arginine

M. G. Ryadnov¹, O. V. Degtyareva², I. A. Kashparov¹, and Yu. V. Mitin¹

¹Institute of Protein Research, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino 142290, Moscow Region, Russia; E-mail: mitin@vega.protres.ru

²Institute of Cell Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino 142290, Moscow Region, Russia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received May 20, 2002; Revision received July 10, 2002

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Tetradecapeptides (RLARLAR)₂, D-(RLARLAR)₂, (RLARLAA)₂, and (RLGRLGR)₂ were synthesized by a solid phase method using Fmoc-amino acids. The antibacterial activity of the synthesized peptides was studied against Escherichia coli cells. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was, correspondingly, 3, 1, 3, and 12 µM, which is comparable with MIC of such natural antimicrobial peptides as temporin, magainin, and dermaseptin. It was found that all of the synthesized peptides have no effect on human erythrocytes and rat thymocytes. The peptides form alpha-helices in 30% trifluoroethanol and in 2.5 mM SDS, which have amphipathic structure.

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KEY WORDS: antimicrobial peptides, amphipathic peptides, solid phase synthesis

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