Antimicrobial peptides: an alternative for innovative medicines?

Abstract

Antimicrobial peptides are small molecules with activity against bacteria, yeasts, fungi, viruses, bacteria, and even tumor cells that make these molecules attractive as therapeutic agents. Due to the alarming increase of antimicrobial resistance, interest in alternative antimicrobial agents has led to the exploitation of antimicrobial peptides, both synthetic and from natural sources. Thus, many peptide-based drugs are currently commercially available for the treatment of numerous ailments, such as hepatitis C, myeloma, skin infections, and diabetes. Initial barriers are being increasingly overcome with the development of cost-effective, more stable peptides. Herein, we review the available strategies for their synthesis, bioinformatics tools for the rational design of antimicrobial peptides with enhanced therapeutic indices, hurdles and shortcomings limiting the large-scale production of AMPs, as well as the challenges that the pharmaceutical industry faces on their use as therapeutic agents.

Adding Functions to Biomaterial Surfaces through Protein Incorporation

“…[305] Amphipathic α-helical peptides form linear α-helical structures in solution, while β-sheet and β-hairpin peptides are stabilized in their three-dimensional conformations by covalent disulfide bridges. Extended AMPs lack a secondary structure and are rich in amino acids such as arginine, histidine, tyrosine and glycine.…”

“…[304] They typically exhibit low immunogenicity, high specificity for procaryotic cells and a broad spectrum of action against different cell types. Peptidebased drugs are currently available to treat viral diseases such as hepatitis C [305] but they are of particular interest in treating infectious bacteria with increasing drug resistance profiles, such as Staphylococcus aureus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Their broader adaptation has been limited by their increased susceptibility to degradation and the sensitivity of their activity to physiological conditions -both of which can be reduced upon tethering to device surfaces.…”

Rational Use of Antimicrobials in Animal Production:A Prerequisite to Stem the Tide of Antimicrobial Resistance

“…The new sources which hold promise for novel antimicrobial compounds include plants, marine bio-resources, insects and venoms of various origins [111][112][113][114][115][116][117] . Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are an integral part of the natural host defence system and play a critical role in reducing the microbial load early during infection 118 . AMPs have potent antimicrobial activity, low resistance rates and a unique mode of action 116 .…”

“…AMPs have potent antimicrobial activity, low resistance rates and a unique mode of action 116 . Due to rapid increase in antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial peptides from synthetic and natural sources are being explored as an alternative to antimicrobial agents 118 . Lectins, the multivalent proteins present in microorganisms, animals and plants are being explored to develop novel antimicrobial agents 110 .…”

Expression of plectasin in Bacillus subtilis using SUMO technology by a maltose-inducible vector

“…AMPs are generally small (12-50 amino acids), and contain both cationic and hydrophobic amino acids [5]. Ubiquitous in nature, AMPs exhibit activity against bacteria, fungi, parasite, virus, and even cancer cells [4]. Defensin, a major family of AMPs, has three pairs of disulfide bonds connected by six conserved Cys residues [1].…”