Bactericidal activity engineered on human pancreatic ribonuclease and onconase

Ribonucleases belonging to the pancreatic-type family exhibit a variety of biological activities that make them potential candidates as chemotherapeutic agents. Among them are remarkable the selective cytotoxicity against tumor cells, exhibited by onconase, and the bactericidal activity presented by the eosinophil cationic protein (ECP). In the past years, based on what is known about the cytotoxic mechanism of ribonucleases, a lot of work has been performed to switch non-naturally cytotoxic ribonucleases to potent toxins. Most of the efforts have been devoted to the production of ribonucleases endowed with selective cytotoxicity against tumor cells. In the present paper, however, we have used two nonbactericidal ribonucleases, onconase and the human pancreatic ribonuclease, as scaffolds onto which to engineer bactericidal activity. To this end, the main bactericidal determinant described for ECP (YRWR) has been introduced to these proteins either in an internal position or as an extension of the C-terminal end. The ribonucleolytic activity, thermostability, cytotoxicity against eukaryotic cells and the antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains have been determined for all the variants produced. The results show that we have endowed both ribonucleases with antibacterial activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. In addition, we show that this activity is, at least in part, dependent on the ribonucleolytic activity of the enzymes. Remarkably, we have developed a human pancreatic ribonuclease variant with de novo acquired selective antibacterial which is not cytotoxic to mammalian cells.