Biochemical characterization of antimicrobial peptides from buffalo tracheal epithelium

In view of bronchial infections that occur commonly in buffaloes, we have attempted to investigate the reasons behind failure of innate immunity of this system. As such no information on buffalo tracheal innate immunity is available. Buffalo tracheal epithelium cationic proteins and peptides were isolated and characterized by using Sephacryl S-100 HR and 10 kDa cutoff ultrafiltration system. The peptides lower than 10 kDa were found to contain antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Salmonella Typhimurium. Other important antimicrobial protein was found to be lysozyme. The peptides were having molecular weight of about 3–30 kDa among the total 13 protein bands. The above study has established that buffalo tracheal epithelium is endowed with the presence of cationic peptides having antimicrobial property. Presence of such peptides is likely to explain the susceptibility of bronchial system to infections, which needs to be further explored by studying individual disease conditions.