Marine antimicrobial peptides: nature provides templates for the design of novel compounds against pathogenic bacteria
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The discovery of antibiotics for the treatment of bacterial infections brought the idea that bacteria would no longer endanger human health. However, bacterial diseases still represent a worldwide treat. The ability of microorganisms to develop resistance, together with the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, is mainly responsible for this situation; thus, resistance has compelled the scientific community to search for novel therapeutics. In this scenario, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) provide a promising strategy against a wide array of pathogenic microorganisms, being able to act directly as antimicrobial agents but also being important regulators of the innate immune system. This review is an attempt to explore marine AMPs as a rich source of molecules with antimicrobial activity. In fact, the sea is poorly explored in terms of AMPs, but it represents a resource with plentiful antibacterial agents performing their role in a harsh environment. For the application of AMPs in the medical field limitations correlated to their peptide nature, their inactivation by environmental pH, presence of salts, proteases, or other components have to be solved. Thus, these peptides may act as templates for the design of more potent and less toxic compounds.
Date Issued
2016-05
Date Acceptance
2016-05-18
Citation
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2016, 17 (5)
ISSN
1422-0067
Publisher
MDPI AG
Journal / Book Title
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Volume
17
Issue
5
Copyright Statement
© 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000378791400169&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=a2bf6146997ec60c407a63945d4e92bb
Subjects
ANTIBACTERIAL PEPTIDE
antimicrobial peptide
BETA-DEFENSIN
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
CELL-PENETRATING PEPTIDES
Chemistry
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
CRAB TACHYPLEUS-TRIDENTATUS
CRAYFISH PACIFASTACUS-LENIUSCULUS
JELLYFISH AURELIA-AURITA
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
marine AMPs
membrane bilayer
MEMBRANOTROPIC PEPTIDES
microbial resistance
Physical Sciences
RECOMBINANT EXPRESSION
RED-SEA BREAM
Science & Technology
SOLITARY TUNICATE
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
785
Date Publish Online
2016-05-21