Due to the increase of resistance by pathogenic organisms to traditional drugs, there is an interest to find new active compounds with novel modes of activity for the treatment of diseases. Currently there is also a new interest for natural products as a source of potential drugs. Animal and plant venoms contain a variety of active molecules with useful and potential medicinal applications. Though not as commonly studied as for scorpions, spiders or insects, some fish venom has also components with antimicrobial activity. Pp2a is a 14 amino acids peptide with an alpha helix structure that is part of the Grammistins group of peptides from the “soap fish” <i>Pogonoperca punctata</i> and it has been reported to have broad antimicrobial activity against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria but also, expected for a venom, hemolytic activity. In our group we have designed and synthesized a library of analogs of the natural peptide Pp2a and the plan is to test these analogs for antibacterial, antifungal, insecticide properties and for toxicity. The design of analogs is based on the structure given by the Schiffer–Edmundson α-helical wheel projection of Pp2a, which shows the secondary structure and the positions of the amino acids that can be essential for the peptide activity of this natural peptide. This design includes modifications on specific positons of the amino acid sequences and, for a second library of peptides, the addition of a fatty acid chain on each peptide to increase hydrophobicity and expected increase in antimicrobial activity.

Synthesis of antimicrobial peptide analogs from fish <i>Pogonoperca punctata </i>venom

Where thousands of chemistry professionals meet to share ideas and advance scientific and technical knowledge. Spring 2023 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch at the end of March.

ACS Spring 2023

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.

Synthesis of antimicrobial peptide analogs from fish Pogonoperca punctata venom