12 Facts About Antimicrobial peptides

Antimicrobial peptides, called host defence peptides are part of the innate immune response found among all classes of life.

Antimicrobial peptides have been demonstrated to kill Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria, enveloped viruses, fungi and even transformed or cancerous cells.

Antimicrobial peptides are a unique and diverse group of molecules, which are divided into subgroups on the basis of their amino acid composition and structure.

Many of these Antimicrobial peptides are unstructured in free solution, and fold into their final configuration upon partitioning into biological membranes.

In contrast to many conventional antibiotics these Antimicrobial peptides appear to be bactericidal instead of bacteriostatic.

In general the antimicrobial activity of these peptides is determined by measuring the minimal inhibitory concentration, which is the lowest concentration of drug that inhibits bacterial growth.

Animal models indicate that host defense Antimicrobial peptides are crucial for both prevention and clearance of infection.

Antimicrobial peptides generally have a net positive charge, allowing them to interact with the negatively charged molecules exposed on bacteria and cancer cell surfaces, such as phospholipid phosphatidylserine, O-glycosylated mucins, sialylated gangliosides, and heparin sulfates.

Since the surface of the bacterial membranes is more negatively charged than mammalian cells, antimicrobial peptides will show different affinities towards the bacterial membranes and mammalian cell membranes.

Similarly, it is believed that increasing ionic strength, which in general reduces the activity of most antimicrobial peptides, contributes partially to the selectivity of the antimicrobial peptides by weakening the electrostatic interactions required for the initial interaction.

Antimicrobial peptides are produced by species across the tree of life, including:.

Antimicrobial peptides often encompass a wide range of categories such as antifungal, antibacterial, and antituberculosis peptides.