Peptide name : MzDef

Source/Organism : Zea mays L.

Linear/Cyclic : Linear

Chirality : L

Peptide length: 34

C-terminal modification: Linear

N-terminal modification : Free

Non-natural peptide information:

Assay type : MTT assay

Assay time : 24-h

Activity : IC50 ~ 22 µg/mL

Cell line : HepG-2

Cancer type : Liver Cancer

Other activity : Antimicrobial and Anticancer

Amino acid composition bar chart :

Molecular mass : 3619.074 Dalton

Aliphatic index : 0.173

Instability index : 48.7941

Hydrophobicity (GRAVY) : -0.55

Isoelectric point : 7.5569

Charge (pH 7) : 0.4464

Aromaticity : 5.882

Molar extinction coefficient (cysteine, cystine): (6, 3)

Hydrophobic/hydrophilic ratio : 1

hydrophobic moment : -0.000

Missing amino acid : D,H,I,L,W,Y

Most occurring amino acid : C

Most occurring amino acid frequency : 6

Least occurring amino acid : M

Least occurring amino acid frequency : 1

Secondary structure fraction (Helix, Turn, Sheet): (29., 32., 14.)

SMILES Notation: CSCC[C@H](N)C(=O)N[C@@H](CO)C(=O)N[C@@H](CO)C(=O)N[C@@H](CO)C(=O)N[C@@H](CC(N)=O)C(=O)N[C@@H](CS)C(=O)N[C@@H](C)C(=O)N[C@@H](CC(N)=O)C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@@H](CS)C(=O)N[C@@H](CCC(N)=O)C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@@H](CCC(=O)O)C(=O)N[C@@H](CC(N)=O)C(=O)N[C@@H](Cc1ccccc1)C(=O)N1CCC[C@H]1C(=O)NCC(=O)NCC(=O)N[C@@H](CCC(=O)O)C(=O)N[C@@H](CS)C(=O)N[C@@H](CCCCN)C(=O)N[C@@H](C)C(=O)N[C@@H](CCC(=O)O)C(=O)NCC(=O)N[C@@H](C)C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@@H](CCCNC(=N)N)C(=O)N[C@@H](CCCCN)C(=O)N[C@@H](CS)C(=O)N[C@@H](Cc1ccccc1)C(=O)N[C@@H](CS)C(=O)N[C@@H](CCCCN)C(=O)N[C@@H](CC(N)=O)C(=O)N[C@@H](CS)C(=O)O)[C@@H](C)O)[C@@H](C)O)C(C)C

1 : Al Kashgry NAT, et al. Utilization of a recombinant defensin from Maize (Zea mays L.) as a potential antimicrobial peptide. AMB Express. 2020; 10:208. doi: 10.1186/s13568-020-01146-9

Paper title : Utilization of a recombinant defensin from Maize (Zea mays L.) as a potential antimicrobial peptide.

Doi : https://doi.org/10.1186/s13568-020-01146-9

Abstract : The search for effective and bioactive antimicrobial molecules to  encounter the medical need for new antibiotics is an encouraging area of research. Plant defensins are small cationic, cysteine-rich peptides with a stabilized tertiary structure by disulfide-bridges and characterized by a wide range of biological functions. The heterologous expression of Egyptian maize defensin (MzDef) in Escherichia coli and subsequent purification by glutathione affinity chromatography yielded 2 mg/L of recombinant defensin peptide. The glutathione-S-transferase (GST)-tagged MzDef of approximately 30 kDa in size (26 KDa GST +  ~ 4 KDa MzDef peptide) was immunodetected with anti-GST antibodies. The GST-tag was successfully cleaved from the MzDef peptide by thrombin, and the removal was validated by the Tris-Tricine gel electrophoresis. The MzDef induced strong growth inhibition of Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium verticillioides, and Aspergillus niger by 94.23%, 93.34%, and 86.25%, respectively, whereas relatively weak growth inhibitory activity of 35.42% against Fusarium solani was recorded. Moreover, strong antibacterial activities were demonstrated against E. coli and Bacillus cereus and the moderate activities against Salmonella enterica and Staphylococcus aureus at all tested concentrations (0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.6, and 3.2 µM). Furthermore, the in vitro MTT assay exhibited promising anticancer activity against all tested cell lines (hepatocellular carcinoma, mammary gland breast cancer, and colorectal carcinoma colon cancer) with IC₅₀ values ranging from 14.85 to 29.85 µg/mL. These results suggest that the recombinant peptide MzDef may serve as a potential alternative antimicrobial and anticancer agent to be used in medicinal application.