Identification and functional evaluation of a bioactive peptide, QUB-1942, from the skin secretion of <i>Phyllomedusa hypochondrialis</i>

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, many types of therapeutic compounds have long been sought from the skins of amphibians. There is an urgent need for new antibiotic resources, and current efforts need to be doubled at the very least, as more and more pathogenic bacteria are becoming resistant to commercial antibiotics while novel putative antibiotics continue to fail in this struggle with bacteria.

Previous research has shown that amphibian defensive skin secretions are a rich source of new functional peptides, making them desirable candidates for the creation of innovative drugs.<br><br>In this thesis, a novel antimicrobial peptide, named QUB-1942, was isolated and identified from the skin secretions of Phyllomedusa hypochondrialis, and via "shotgun" molecular cloning, the biosynthetic precursor sequence of QUB-1942 was obtained.