Characterization of antibacterial peptide from horseshoe crab, tachypleus gigas

Abstract

Antibacterial peptide is one of the natural antibiotics that have antibacterial activity against both Gram-negative and positive bacteria. Horseshoe crab which is a marine invertebrate has a unique defense mechanism against pathogenic microorganisms. It was reported that horseshoe crabs contain proteins in their amoebocyte (blood cells) that is involved in the immune response. Thus, a study was carried out to isolate and purify the potential of antibacterial peptide from the horseshoe crab’s amoebocyte. The blood was collected from eight adult male and female horseshoe crabs and extraction of the amoebocyte lysate was done using acetic acid extraction method. The antibacterial peptide was purified using FPLC coupled with gel filtration column (HiPrep 26/60 Sephacryl S-100 High Resolution) and then subjected to SDS-PAGE for protein profiling.