scholarly journals Design, Engineering and Discovery of Novel α-Helical and β-Boomerang Antimicrobial Peptides against Drug Resistant Bacteria

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (16) ◽  
pp. 5773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Surajit Bhattacharjya ◽  
Suzana K. Straus

In an era where the pipeline of new antibiotic development is drying up, the continuous rise of multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug resistant (XDR) bacteria are genuine threats to human health. Although antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) may serve as promising leads against drug resistant bacteria, only a few AMPs are in advanced clinical trials. The limitations of AMPs, namely their low in vivo activity, toxicity, and poor bioavailability, need to be addressed. Here, we review engineering of frog derived short α-helical AMPs (aurein, temporins) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) binding designed β-boomerang AMPs for further development. The discovery of novel cell selective AMPs from the human proprotein convertase furin is also discussed.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingxue Deng ◽  
Rui Huang ◽  
Songyin Huang ◽  
Menghua Xiong

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have emerged as promising alternatives of traditional antibiotics against drug-resistant bacteria owing to their broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties and low tendency to drugresistance. However, their therapeutic efficacy in vivo, especially for infections in deep organs, is limited owing to their systemic toxicity and low bioavailability. Nanoparticles-based delivery systems offer a strategy to increase the therapeutic index of AMPs by preventing proteolysis, increasing the accumulation at infection sites, and reducing toxicity. Herein, we will discuss the current progress of using nanoparticles as delivery vehicles for AMPs for the treatment of deep infections.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Parvin Askari ◽  
Mohammad Hasan Namaei ◽  
Kiarash Ghazvini ◽  
Mehran Hosseini

Abstract Background Melittin is one of the most studied antimicrobial peptides, and several in vitro experiments have demonstrated its antibacterial efficacy. However, there is evidence showing melittin has non-promising effects such as cytotoxicity and hemolysis. Therefore, concerns about unwanted collateral toxicity of melittin lie ahead in the path toward its clinical development. With these considerations, the present study aimed to fill the gap between in vitro and in vivo studies. Methods In the first step, in vitro toxicity profile of melittin was assessed using cytotoxicity and hemolysis tests. Next, a maximum intraperitoneal (i.p.) sub-lethal dose was determined using BALB/c mice. Besides toxicity, antimicrobial efficacy of melittin against extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Acinetobacter baumannii, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumonia (KPC-KP) pathogens were tested using both in vitro and in vivo methods. Results Melittin showed extensive hemolysis (HD50 = 0.44 µg/mL), and cytotoxicity (IC50 = 6.45 µg/mL) activities with i.p. LD50 value of 4.98 mg/kg in BALB/c mice. In vitro antimicrobial evaluation showed melittin MIC range from 8 to 32 µg/mL for the studied pathogens. Treatment of infected mice with repeated sub-lethal doses of melittin (2.4 mg/kg) displayed no beneficial effect on their survival and peritoneal bacterial loads. Conclusions These results indicate that melittin at its safe dose could not exhibit antimicrobial activity, which hinders its application in clinical practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1569-1577

The quorum sensing (QS) mechanism has become a viable research strategy for the discovery of plant-derived anti-virulent agents to control drug-resistant bacteria. The increasing incidences of drug-resistant bacteria and the effort to curb it necessitate this study. We investigated the QS inhibitory potential of Centaurea praecox extracts on Chromobacterium violaceum (CV), antibacterial activity, and determination of chemical composition using GC-MS. C. praecox was subjected to sequential extraction using hexane (HEX), dichloromethane (DCM), ethyl acetate (EA), ethanol (ET), and aqueous (AQ) solvents. The extracts were subsequently evaluated for antibacterial activity using disc diffusion and QS violacein inhibition using spectrophotometry. The antibacterial effects of the extracts were moderate on gram-positive bacteria at 4 mg/mL in the order: HEX >EA >DCM >ET =AQ. However, the DCM extract demonstrated the most effective violacein inhibition of ≥80% at 0.3 mg/mL. QS violacein inhibitions were generally found to be concentration-dependent in the order: DCM >EA >HEX >ET =AQ with efficacies of ≥ 90% inhibition at ≥ 0.6 mg/mL. GC-MS analysis on the most potent DCM extract revealed N-vinylmethanimine, N-ethyl formamide, and propanamide among components identified. We concluded that C. praecox DCM extract contains bioactive chemicals as QS inhibitors and potential anti-virulent agents capable of combating the pathogenicity of drug-resistant bacteria in vivo.


2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 319-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Vassal ◽  
P. Berthelot ◽  
J.P. Chaussinand ◽  
S. Jay ◽  
J.P. de Filippis ◽  
...  

Database ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guizi Ye ◽  
Hongyu Wu ◽  
Jinjiang Huang ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
Kuikui Ge ◽  
...  

Abstract Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been regarded as a potential weapon to fight against drug-resistant bacteria, which is threating the globe. Thus, more and more AMPs had been designed or identified. There is a need to integrate them into a platform for researchers to facilitate investigation and analyze existing AMPs. The AMP database has become an important tool for the discovery and transformation of AMPs as agents. A database linking antimicrobial peptides (LAMPs), launched in 2013, serves as a comprehensive tool to supply exhaustive information of AMP on a single platform. LAMP2, an updated version of LAMP, holds 23 253 unique AMP sequences and expands to link 16 public AMP databases. In the current version, there are more than 50% (12 236) sequences only linking a single database and more than 45% of AMPs linking two or more database links. Additionally, updated categories based on primary structure, collection, composition, source and function have been integrated into LAMP2. Peptides in LAMP2 have been integrated in 8 major functional classes and 38 functional activities. More than 89% (20 909) of the peptides are experimentally validated peptides. A total of 1924 references were extracted and regarded as the evidence for supporting AMP activity and cytotoxicity. The updated version will be helpful to the scientific community.


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