Design and amplification of an antimicrobial peptide based on scorpion mucroporin toxin

Backgrounds: Many natural antimicrobial peptides have been isolated from various sources,such as venomous organisms. Small antimicrobial peptides have been isolated by affecting awide range of microorganisms. Mucroporin with ۱۷ amino acids was identified from Lychasmucronatus scorpion. This peptide affects various viruses such as measles, influenza, SARSCoV,and different bacteria. The aim of this study was to design an antimicrobial peptide byenhancing the anti-microbial effect of this peptide.Materials and Methods: To design the new anti-microbial peptide, the amino acid sequence ofthe Mucroporin peptide and other similar antimicrobial peptides that had been isolated fromscorpions or produced by mutagenesis were examined. Effective amino acids that interact withthe cell membrane and are critical for peptide impact were identified and set up in the newpeptide structure. Then, the nucleotide sequence of the peptide was designed based on theoptimum codon usage in E. coli. Overlapping primers were designed to make the coding part andSOEing-PCR was performed to connect the fragments.Results: In silico studies showed that the designed sequence has the ability to interact withbacterial membranes with high affinity and also is an anti-cancer peptide. SOEing-PCR resultsshowed that the coding fragment was amplified with the size of ۶۸ nucleotides.Conclusion: The obtained data showed that the newly designed peptide by increasing thepositive charge to five and changing the key amino acids could be a powerful agent againstdifferent microbes.