筑波大学团队从果蝇睡眠蛋白 Nemuri 找到短肽，可抑制耐药菌、经核糖体凝聚阻断蛋白合成
日本筑波大学及合作机构研究团队在《自然-通讯》（Nature Communications）发表研究，从黑腹果蝇的睡眠诱导蛋白 Nemuri 中鉴定出数条短抗菌肽。这些被称作 Nemuri 肽的短肽可抑制多种微生物生长，包括具临床重要性的耐药菌株；对大肠杆菌与金黄色葡萄球菌，肽在接近抑菌浓度的水平即显示杀菌活性。
机制研究显示，肽进入细菌细胞后在富含核糖体与 RNA 的区域聚集，与 RNA 分子及核糖体表面广泛作用，诱导核糖体富集区发生凝聚样重塑，降低核糖体移动性并抑制整体蛋白合成；在测试条件下未见显著膜破坏，对培养的昆虫与哺乳动物细胞毒性低。研究团队表示，Nemuri 肽可作为开发新型抗菌剂的起点，仍需在动物感染模型中评估效力与安全性。论文第一作者为 Suguru Nishinami，DOI 为 10.1038/s41467-026-78960-5。
图中是黑腹果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）侧面特写
University of Tsukuba Team Finds Short Peptides From Fruit Fly Sleep Protein Nemuri That Inhibit Drug-Resistant Bacteria via Ribosomal Condensation
Researchers at the University of Tsukuba and collaborating institutions in Japan, publishing in Nature Communications, identified several short antimicrobial peptides derived from Nemuri, a sleep-inducing protein previously discovered in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. The Nemuri peptides inhibited the growth of a wide range of microorganisms, including clinically important drug-resistant bacterial strains, and in Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus showed bactericidal activity at concentrations close to those required to inhibit growth.
The peptides were shown to enter bacterial cells and accumulate in ribosome- and RNA-rich regions, interacting broadly with RNA molecules and ribosomal surfaces and inducing condensation-like remodelling that reduced ribosomal mobility and suppressed global protein synthesis. No substantial membrane disruption was detected at antimicrobial concentrations under the conditions tested, and the peptides showed low toxicity toward cultured insect and mammalian cells. The team said the peptides are a starting point for developing antimicrobial agents against drug-resistant bacteria, and that efficacy and safety must still be evaluated in animal models. The paper, by Suguru Nishinami and colleagues, has DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-78960-5.
来源：《自然-通讯》
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图中是黑腹果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）侧面特写。Wikimedia Commons — André Karwath aka Aka, CC BY-SA 2.5
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