Citrus greening, or Huanglongbing (HLB), is a disease that devastates citrus production all over the world. The culprit behind HLB is the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter spp. (e.g., CLas), an unculturable pathogen that has proven very difficult to treat. Once a tree is infected, it becomes unproductive and dies within years, costing the global citrus market billions. While current attempts to combat HLB rely on controlling the insect vector, scientists have turned some attention toward the potential of peptides. Their work displayed how antimicrobial peptides show promise for combatting citrus greening, mainly by methods against CLas itself.

Antimicrobial peptides effective against CLas bacteria

With not many current effective options to fight HLB, scientists believe the next area of interest is targeting the CLas secretory pathway using antimicrobial peptides provided by LifeTein. Specifically, the antimicrobial peptides would be blocking the TolC efflux pump protein. The study found three peptides capable of doing this by binding tightly with the TolC receptors and even the β barrel entrance of the protein as well. Treatment with peptides in this manner showed effective inhibition and even mortality in models closely resembling CLas.

The studies displayed using antimicrobial peptides show major promise for future treatment of HLB. With the chemical-resistant bacteria CLas being nearly impossible to slow down, peptides just may have been holding the solution all along. There is hope that new therapies can be developed utilizing the strategies shown, and global citrus production can rest easy after decades of HLB ravaging the farms.

Wang, Haoqi, Nirmitee Mulgaonkar, Samavath Mallawarachchi, Manikandan Ramasamy, Carmen S. Padilla, Sonia Irigoyen, Gitta Coaker, Kranthi K. Mandadi, and Sandun Fernando. 2022. “Evaluation of Candidatus Liberibacter Asiaticus Efflux Pump Inhibition by Antimicrobial Peptides” Molecules 27, no. 24: 8729. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27248729

BIRD-2, a peptide that explicitly disrupts the Bcl2/IP3R complex, was utilized to further verify the mitochondrial Ca²⁺ regulatory mechanism via the Bmal1-Bcl2/IP3R signaling pathway. It was found that BIRD-2 aggravated mitochondrial Ca²⁺ overload and apoptosis in vitro.

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BIRD-2 peptide (sequence: RKKRRQRRRGGNVYTEIKCNSLLPLAAIVRV) was purchased from LifeTein (South Plainfield, NJ, USA) with a purity of >85%.

Bird-2 Peptides & B-Cell Lymphoma

Reference:

BIRD-2 peptide (LifeTein, USA), specifically disrupting the Bcl2/IP3R complex, was used in HGHP-treated H9c2 cells for 12 h (20 μM)

Inhibiting Bcl-2 via its BH4 domain in DLBCL cancers to provoke pro-apoptotic Ca²⁺ signaling

BIRD-2, a BH4-domain-targeting peptide of Bcl-2, provokes Bax/Bak-independent cell death in B-cell cancers through mitochondrial Ca2+-dependent mPTP opening

Peptide Synthesis & Cell Penetration

The cationic CPPs interact with negatively charged head groups of lipids directly in the plasma membrane through electrostatic interactions. The increased local peptide concentration at the membrane surface will cause a transient destabilization of the lipid bilayer and lead to cell entry. The hydrophobic interactions, especially facilitated by the presence of tryptophan residues, may be important for the CPP-membrane interaction and cellular internalization.

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