Identification and functional investigations of a novel peptide QUB-2988 from the skin secretions of Rana palustri

Abstract

The large-scale use and abuse of antibiotics has led to the emergence of antibiotic resistance not only in clinical practice, but also in the food industry, agriculture, aquaculture, animal husbandry and forestry, and even in veterinary treatment of animals, and antibiotic resistance has gradually become one of the biggest crises of the past decades. Nowadays, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have become an important antibiotic and, according to the current state of research, offer new possibilities to replace and surpass antibiotics. Therefore, these bioactive peptides have attracted increasing research attention. In order to investigate the biological activity of QUB-2988, antimicrobial experiments, haemolysis experiments and antiproliferative experiments were designed. By processing the data from these experiments, a more comprehensive understanding of QUB-2988 as an antibacterial peptide with certain biological activities can be obtained. In this study, the precursor-encoding cDNA of QUB-2988 was cloned and characterised from Rana palustris skin secretions. QUB-2988 showed a potent antimicrobial activity. QUB-2988 may provide new opportunities for future therapeutic design of natural antibacterial medicines.

Thesis is embargoed until 31 December 2028.

Date of Award	Dec 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Supervisor	Mei Zhou (Supervisor) & Tianbao Chen (Supervisor)