What is the Australian toad hiding?

australian toad skin Uperoleia mjobergii, from the West Kimberley region, secretes an antibacterial peptide as part of its immune system. Analyzing it, a team of scientists, led by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and the Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) of Hamburg, Germany, also based in Barcelonahas been able to reveal his 3d molecular structure.

australian toad

The work, published in the magazine PNASthus allows us to understand for the first time the regulation mechanism of the antimicrobial peptide that self-assembles in a unique fibrous structure, which through a sophisticated mechanism of structural adaptation, can change its shape in the presence of bacteria to protect the toad from infection. It’s like it turns on and off.

The findings suggest that this substance binds in the form of amyloid fibrils highly stable, a hallmark of the neurodegenerative diseaseslike Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. These fibrils serve as a reservoir for potential attacking molecules that can be activated when bacteria are present.

As scientists have been able to verify, once the peptide meets the bacterial membrane, it changes its molecular configuration and transforms into a deadly weapon. “This is a sophisticated protection mechanism of the toad, induced by the attacking bacteria themselves”says the structural biologist Meytal Landaulead author of this study and a researcher at the Israeli center.

“This is a unique example of evolutionary design of interchangeable supramolecular structures to control activity”he emphasizes.

Future medical applications

Antimicrobial peptides are found in different aspects of nature, so the hypothesis is that they could be effective not only as weapons against bacteria, but also against Carcinogenic cells.

The unique amyloid-like properties of the toad antibacterial peptide, discovered in the study, could therefore shed light on the possible physiological qualities of amyloid fibrils associated with neurodegenerative disorders and systemic.

The researchers hope their finding will lead to medical and technological applications, including the development of synthetic antimicrobial peptides that would be activated only in the presence of bacteria. These substances could also serve as a stable coating for medical devices or implantsor even in industrial equipment that requires sterile conditions.

Font: SINC Agency

Reference article: https://www.agenciasinc.es/Noticias/The-skin-of-an-australian-toad-hides-a-deadly-weapon-against-bacteria