A Novel Dermaseptin Peptide from the Defensive Skin Secretion of Phyllomedusa Camba
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MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY A novel dermaseptin peptide from the defensive skin secretion of Phyllomedusa camba Zhu, Haohao Award date: 2017 Awarding institution: Queen's University Belfast Link to publication Terms of use All those accessing thesis content in Queen’s University Belfast Research Portal are subject to the following terms and conditions of use • Copyright is subject to the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988, or as modified by any successor legislation • Copyright and moral rights for thesis content are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners • A copy of a thesis may be downloaded for personal non-commercial research/study without the need for permission or charge • Distribution or reproduction of thesis content in any format is not permitted without the permission of the copyright holder • When citing this work, full bibliographic details should be supplied, including the author, title, awarding institution and date of thesis Take down policy A thesis can be removed from the Research Portal if there has been a breach of copyright, or a similarly robust reason. 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Sep. 2021 A novel dermaseptin peptide from the de- fensive skin secretion of Phyllomedusa camba Haohao Zhu B.Sc School of Pharmacy Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science Queen’s University Belfast A thesis submitted to Queen’s University Belfast for the degree of Master of Philosophy (MPhil) 2017 Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. V Declaration .............................................................................................................................. VI Abstract .................................................................................................................................. VII Chapter 1 ...................................................................................................................................1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................1 1.1 Peptides of Phyllomedusa skin secretions ................................................................4 1.2 Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) from the skins of Phyllomedusa .........................7 1.3.1 Dermaseptin .......................................................................................................8 1.3.2 Dermatoxin ...................................................................................................... 12 1.3.3 Distinctin.......................................................................................................... 14 1.3.4 Phylloseptin ..................................................................................................... 15 1.3.5 Phylloxin .......................................................................................................... 18 1.3.6 Plasticin............................................................................................................ 19 1.3.7 Skin polypeptide YY ....................................................................................... 21 1.3 Aims and objectives of this research..................................................................... 23 Chapter 2 ................................................................................................................................ 24 Materials and Methods ......................................................................................................... 24 2.1 Specimen biodata and secretion harvesting ......................................................... 25 2.2 Molecular cloning ................................................................................................... 25 2.2.1 mRNA isolation ............................................................................................... 25 2.2.2 cDNA library construction............................................................................. 27 2.2.3 Rapid amplification of cDNA ends-Polymerase chain reaction (RACE PCR) .......................................................................................................................... 30 2.2.4 Agarose gel electrophoresis ............................................................................ 32 2.2.5 PCR product purification .............................................................................. 33 2.2.6 Ligation ............................................................................................................ 35 2.2.7 Transformation ............................................................................................... 36 2.2.8 Blue and white colony screening ................................................................... 38 2.2.9 Isolation of recombinant DNA by cloning PCR ........................................... 38 2.2.10 Agarose gel electrophoresis analysis ............................................................. 41 II 2.2.11 Purification of selected PCR product ........................................................... 41 2.2.12 DNA sequencing reaction ............................................................................... 41 2.2.13 Purification of extension products ................................................................ 43 2.2.14 Sequencing ....................................................................................................... 43 2.3 Solid phase peptide synthesis ................................................................................ 44 2.3.1 Peptide synthesis ............................................................................................. 45 2.3.2 Peptide cleavage and rotary evaporation ..................................................... 46 2.3.3 Peptide washing .............................................................................................. 46 2.3.4 Peptide lyophilisation ..................................................................................... 47 2.3.5 Peptide yield calculation................................................................................. 47 2.4 Reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) ................ 47 2.5 Peptide analysis by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry ............................................................................................................. 48 2.6 Antimicrobial assays .............................................................................................. 48 2.6.1 Microorganism inoculation ............................................................................ 49 2.6.2 Peptide preparation ........................................................................................ 49 2.6.3 Subculture ....................................................................................................... 49 2.6.4 Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) measurements ......................... 50 2.6.5 Viable cell counts ............................................................................................ 51 2.6.6 Minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) measurements ..................... 51 2.7 Haemolysis assay .................................................................................................... 51 2.7.1 Peptide and control preparation ................................................................... 51 2.7.2 Horse blood preparation ................................................................................ 52 2.7.3 Haemolysis assay ............................................................................................. 52 Chapter 3 ................................................................................................................................ 54 Results ..................................................................................................................................... 54 3.1 DNA sequencing and biodata analysis.................................................................. 55 3.2 Synthesis and purification of the novel peptide ................................................... 56 3.3 Antimicrobial assays .............................................................................................. 57 3.4 Haemolysis assays ................................................................................................... 59 Chapter 4 ................................................................................................................................ 61 III Discussion ............................................................................................................................... 61 Chapter 5 ................................................................................................................................ 71 References