In silico identification and physicochemical analysis of potential novel antimicrobial peptides from Momordica charantia L.
The emergence of antibacterial resistance has necessitated the development of alternative treatments, such as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). AMPs are part of the innate immune systems of various organisms such as Momordica charantia L., a known medicinal plant in Southeast Asia. In this study, potential novel AMPs from M. charantia were derived in silico to provide prospective antibiotic alternatives using promising plant-based peptides. M. charantia protein sequences that were 500 amino acids long were digested using proteolytic enzymes, resulting in 3,621 peptides. Each resulting sequence was characterized as either AMP or Non-AMP using four statistical analysis tools, and those identified as AMPs were analyzed. This led to 102 AMPs, 53 of which were unregistered on the Data Repository for Antimicrobial Peptides, indicating that they have yet to be derived from other species. Six of the eight studied physicochemical properties show strong correlations with each other, suggesting that subsequent AMP design studies may focus on these six properties. As such, M. charantia may be a rich source of potential AMPs and, thereby, alternative antibiotics. The in vitro examination of these novel AMPs is also recommended to further understand their potential as alternative antibiotics sourced from locally available plants.