Effect of the antimicrobial peptide gomesin against different life stages of Plasmodium spp.

Cristina K. Moreira, Flávia G. Rodrigues, Anil Ghosh, Fernando de P. Varotti, Antonio Miranda, Sirlei Daffre, Marcelo Jacobs-Lorena, Luciano A. Moreira

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

While seeking strategies for interfering with Plasmodium development in vertebrate/invertebrate hosts, we tested the activity of gomesin, an antimicrobial peptide isolated from the hemocytes of the spider Acanthoscurria gomesiana. Gomesin was tested against asexual, sexual and pre-sporogonic forms of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium berghei parasites. The peptide inhibited the in vitro growth of intraerythrocytic forms of P. falciparum.When gomesin was added to in vitro culture of P. berghei mature gametocytes, it significantly inhibited the exflagellation of male gametes and the formation of ookinetes. In vivo, the peptide reduced the number of oocysts of both Plasmodium species in Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes, and did not appear to affect the mosquitoes. These properties make gomesin an excellent candidate as a transmission blocking agent for the genetic engineering of mosquitoes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)346-353
Number of pages8
JournalExperimental Parasitology
Volume116
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2007
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • ATCC
  • American Type Culture Collection
  • An. stephensi
  • Anopheles stephensi
  • Antimicrobial peptide
  • Exflagellation
  • FIOCRUZ
  • Fundação Oswaldo Cruz
  • GFP
  • Gomesin
  • MR4
  • Malaria
  • Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center
  • Mosquito
  • Oocyst
  • Ookinete
  • P. berghei
  • P. falciparum
  • Plasmodium berghei
  • Plasmodium falciparum
  • RPMI-1640
  • Roswell Park Memorial Institute medium
  • green fluorescent protein
  • t-Boc
  • tert-butyloxycarbonyl

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Parasitology
  • Immunology
  • Infectious Diseases

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