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- *****************************
- * Cecropin family signature *
- *****************************
-
- Cecropins [1,2,3] are potent antibacterial proteins that constitute a main
- part of the cell-free immunity of insects. Cecropins are small proteins of
- about 35 amino acid residues active against both gram-positive and gram-
- negative bacteria. They seem to exert a lytic action on bacterial membranes.
-
- Cecropins isolated from insects other than Cecropia have been given various
- names: bactericidin, lepidopteran, sarcotoxin, etc. All of these peptides are
- structurally related. Cecropin P1, an intestinal antibacterial peptide from
- pig, also belongs to this family.
-
- As a signature pattern for this family of active peptides, we selected a
- conserved region in the N-terminal section of cecropins.
-
- -Consensus pattern: W-x(0,2)-[KDN]-x(2)-K-[KRE]-[LI]-E-[RKN]
- -Sequences known to belong to this class detected by the pattern: ALL.
- -Other sequence(s) detected in SWISS-PROT: Equine Infectious Anemia virus gag
- polyprotein and Streptococcus cinnamonensis methylmalonyl-CoA mutase beta-
- subunit.
- -Last update: June 1994 / Pattern and text revised.
-
- [ 1] Boman H.G., Hultmark D.
- Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 41:103-126(1987).
- [ 2] Boman H.G.
- Cell 65:205-207(1991).
- [ 3] Boman H.G., Faye I., Gudmuundsson G.H., Lee J.-Y., Lidholm D.-A.
- Eur. J. Biochem. 201:23-31(1991).
-