Jelleines: a family of antimicrobial peptides from the Royal Jelly of honeybees (Apis mellifera)

Peptides. 2004 Jun;25(6):919-28. doi: 10.1016/j.peptides.2004.03.016.

Abstract

Four antimicrobial peptides were purified from Royal Jelly of honeybees, by using reverse phase-HPLC and sequenced by using Q-Tof-MS/MS: PFKLSLHL-NH(2) (Jelleine-I), TPFKLSLHL-NH(2) (Jelleine-II), EPFKLSLHL-NH(2) (Jelleine-III), and TPFKLSLH-NH(2) (Jelleine-IV). The peptides were synthesized on-solid phase, purified and submitted to different biological assays: antimicrobial activity, mast cell degranulating activity and hemolysis. The Jelleines-I-III presented exclusively antimicrobial activities against yeast, Gram+ and Gram- bacteria; meanwhile, Jelleine-IV was not active in none of the assays performed. These peptides do not present any similarity with the other antimicrobial peptides from the honeybees; they are produced constitutively by the workers and secreted into Royal Jelly.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / chemistry
  • Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / isolation & purification*
  • Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / pharmacology*
  • Bees / chemistry*
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Fatty Acids / chemistry*
  • Gram-Negative Bacteria / drug effects
  • Gram-Positive Bacteria / drug effects
  • Oligopeptides / chemistry
  • Oligopeptides / isolation & purification
  • Oligopeptides / pharmacology
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization
  • Yeasts / drug effects

Substances

  • Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides
  • Fatty Acids
  • Jelleine I
  • Jelleine II
  • Jelleine III
  • Oligopeptides
  • royal jelly