Leptoglycin: A new Glycine/Leucine-rich antimicrobial peptide isolated from the skin secretion of the South American frog Leptodactylus pentadactylus (Leptodactylidae)

Abstract Antimicrobial peptides are components of innate immunity that is the first-line defense against invading pathogens for a wide range of organisms. Here, we describe the isolation, biological characterization and amino acid sequencing of a novel neutral Glycine/Leucine-rich antimicrobial peptide from skin secretion of Leptodactylus pentadactylus named leptoglycin. The amino acid sequence of the peptide purified by RP-HPLC (C 18 column) was deduced by mass spectrometric de novo sequencing and confirmed by Edman degradation: GLLGGLLGPLLGGGGGGGGGLL. Leptoglycin was able to inhibit the growth of Gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Escherichia coli and Citrobacter freundii with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 8 μM, 50 μM, and 75 μM respectively, but it did not show antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria ( Staphylococcus aureus , Micrococcus luteus and  Enterococcus faecalis ), yeasts ( Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis ) and dermatophytes fungi ( Microsporum canis and Trichophyton rubrum ). No hemolytic activity was observed at the 2–200 μM range concentration. The amino acid sequence of leptoglycin with high level of glycine (59.1%) and leucine (36.4%) containing an unusual central proline suggests the existence of a new class of Gly/Leu-rich antimicrobial peptides. Taken together, these results suggest that this natural antimicrobial peptide could be a tool to develop new antibiotics.