2013/01/01 by Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir, Hilmar Hilmarsson, Bjarki Stefansson · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Immunology and Microbiology · #Antimicrobial Peptides and Activities #Aquaculture disease management and microbiota #Protein Hydrolysis and Bioactive Peptides
paper · pdf · doi:10.1155/2013/749078
openalex publication_date 2013/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/27
Surface proteins of viruses and bacteria used for cell attachment and invasion are candidates for degradation by proteases. Trypsin from Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) was previously demonstrated to have efficacy against influenza viruses in vitro and on skin. In this paper, cod trypsin is shown to be 3-12 times more effective in degrading large native proteins than its mesophilic analogue, bovine trypsin. This is in agreement with previous findings where cod trypsin was found to be the most active among twelve different proteases in cleaving various cytokines and pathological proteins. Furthermore, our results show that cod trypsin has high efficacy against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in vitro. The results on the antipathogenic properties of cod trypsin are important because rhinovirus, RSV, and influenza are the most predominant pathogenic viruses in upper respiratory tract infections. Results from a clinical study presented in this paper show that a specific formulation containing cod trypsin was preferred for wound healing over other methods used in the study. Apparently, the high digestive ability of the cold-adapted cod trypsin towards large native proteins plays a role in its efficacy against pathogens and its positive effects on wounds.