Arminin 1a-C, a novel antimicrobial peptide from ancient metazoan Hydra, shows potent antileukemia activity against drug-sensitive and drug-resistant leukemia cells

• Main Authors: Liang X, Wang R, Dou W, Zhao L, Zhou L, Zhu J, Wang K, Yan J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2018-10-01
• Series: Drug Design, Development and Therapy
• Subjects: antimicrobial peptide; Arminin 1a-C; anti-leukemia; multidrug resistance
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/arminin-1a-c-a-novel-antimicrobial-peptide-from-ancient-metazoan-hydra-peer-reviewed-article-DDDT

Xiaolei Liang,1 Ruirui Wang,2 Wenshan Dou,3 Li Zhao,4 Lanxia Zhou,4 Junfang Zhu,4 Kairong Wang,5 Jiexi Yan4 1The Reproductive Medicine Special Hospital of the First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Key Laboratory for Reproductive Medicine and Embryo, Lanzhou, China; 2The First Clinical Medical College, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China; 3The Second Clinical Medical College, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China; 4The Key Laboratory, The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China; 5School of Basic Medical Sciences, Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China Purpose: Due to the emergence of multidrug resistance (MDR), traditional antileukemia drugs no longer meet the treatment needs. Therefore, new antileukemia drugs with different action mechanisms are urgently needed to cope with this situation. Materials and methods: Arminin 1a-C is an antimicrobial peptide (AMP) developed from the ancient metazoan marine Hydra. In this study, we first explored its antileukemia activity. Results: Our results showed that Arminin 1a-C formed an α-helical structure and efficaciously suppressed the viability of leukemia cell lines whether or not they were multidrug resistant or sensitive, and there were no obvious differences between these cell lines. Arminin 1a-C exhibited distinct selectivity between noncancerous and cancerous cell lines. Arminin 1a-C interfered with K562/adriamycin (ADM) cell (a kind of multidrug-resistant leukemia cell line) proliferation in a very rapid manner and formed pores in its cell membrane, making it difficult to develop resistance against Arminin 1a-C. Conclusion: Our data show that Arminin 1a-C possesses great potential as a therapeutic candidate for the treatment of multidrug-resistant leukemia. Keywords: antimicrobial peptide, Arminin 1a-C, antileukemia, multidrug resistance