China Agricultural University Fuses Part of LL-37 With Thymopentin, Making a Less Toxic Peptide That Neutralizes Bacterial Endotoxin
Researchers fused residues 13 to 36 of the human antimicrobial peptide LL-37 with thymopentin (TP5), a five-amino-acid immune peptide, and produced the hybrid in Pichia pastoris yeast at about 20.5 mg per liter and 95.2% purity, reporting in Frontiers in Pharmacology. LL37-TP5 killed Gram-negative and Gram-positive poultry pathogens at low concentrations, neutralized bacterial endotoxin, cut nitric oxide, IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1β in stimulated mouse macrophages, and was less toxic to cells and red blood cells than LL-37. The tests were in the lab, with poultry farming as the intended use.