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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2002, p. 5274-5280, Vol. 68, No. 11
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.11.5274-5280.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Mode of Action of the Antimicrobial Peptide Aureocin A53 from Staphylococcus aureus

Daili Jacqueline Aguilar Netz,1,2 Maria do Carmo de Freire Bastos,1 and Hans-Georg Sahl2*

Departamento de Microbiologia Geral, Instituto de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,1 Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Immunologie, Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany2

Received 21 March 2002/ Accepted 5 August 2002

We investigated the mode of action of aureocin A53 on living bacterial cells and model membranes. Aureocin A53 acted bactericidally against Staphylococcus simulans 22, with >90% of the cells killed within a few minutes. Cell death was followed by lysis, as indicated by a clearing of the cell suspension and Gram staining. Aureocin A53 rapidly dissipated the membrane potential and simultaneously stopped biosynthesis of DNA, polysaccharides, and protein. Aureocin A53 induced a rapid release of preaccumulated glutamate and Rb+. Experiments on model membranes demonstrated that aureocin A53 provoked significant leakage of carboxyfluorescein (CF) exclusively from acidic liposomes but only at relatively high concentrations (0.5 to 8 mol%). Thus, the bactericidal activity of aureocin A53 derives from membrane permeation via generalized membrane destruction rather than by formation of discrete pores within membranes. Tryptophan emission fluorescence spectroscopy demonstrated interaction of aureocin A53 with both acidic and neutral membranes, as indicated by similar blue shifts. Since there was no significant aureocin A53-induced CF leakage from neutral liposomes, its appears that the peptide does interact with neutral lipids without provoking membrane damage.

* Corresponding author: Mailing address: Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Immunologie der Universitat Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany. Phone: 49 228 287 5704. Fax: 49 228 287 4808. E-mail: sahl{at}mibi03.meb.uni-Bonn.de.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2002, p. 5274-5280, Vol. 68, No. 11
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.11.5274-5280.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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