Hydrostatin-TL1, an Anti-Inflammatory Active Peptide from the Venom Gland of Hydrophis cyanocinctus in the South China Sea

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α is a pleiotropic cytokine with intense pro-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties, and anti-TNF-α biologics are effective therapies for various inflammatory diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and sepsis. Snake venom, as a traditional Chinese medicine, has been used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases in China for centuries. In this research, we constructed a venom gland T7 phage display library of the sea snake Hydrophis cyanocinctus to screen bioactive compounds that antagonize TNF-α and identified a novel nine-amino-acid peptide, termed hydrostatin-TL1 (H-TL1). In enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analyses, H-TL1 inhibited the interaction between TNF-α and TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1). Further, H-TL1 attenuated the cytotoxicity of TNF-α in L929 cells as determined by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. H-TL1 also decreased the mRNA expression of TNF-α/TNFR1 downstream targets and suppressed the phosphorylation of well-characterized proteins of downstream signal transduction pathways in HEK-293 cells. In vivo data demonstrated that H-TL1 protects animals against dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced acute colitis and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute shock. Given its significant anti-inflammatory activity in vitro and in vivo, H-TL1 is a potential peptide for the development of new agents to treat TNF-α-associated inflammatory diseases.