Lingual antimicrobial peptide expresses in buffalo mammary gland

Mammalian beta-defensins are innate host defense peptides with potential as a therapeutic agent. Present study reports expression of beta-defensin mRNA transcript in teat mucosal layer of Bubalus bubalis, which is homologous to lingual antimicrobial peptide (LAP) of cattle. The PCR-amplified and cloned full-length cDNA encodes for a putative peptide of 64 residues ( approximately 7 kDa) with pI of 11.324 and possess characteristic features of beta-defensin family including presence of six evolutionary conserved cysteine residues. The first 21 amino acids constitute a putative signal peptide, suggesting that it is a secretory protein. The peptide shares 85%-100% sequence identity with beta-defensins of cattle (Bos taurus). Nonetheless, the maximum identity at nucleotide (100%) and amino acid (98.5%) level was with cattle LAP, which is in consistent with phylogeny analysis report. Hence, the cloned beta-defensin has been designated as buffalo LAP. This study envisages role of beta-defensin peptides in innate immunity of mammary gland.