Cationic antimicrobial peptides natural

Hilpert, K. and Hancock, R.E.W. (2007) Use of luminescent bacteria for rapid screening and characterization of short cationic antimicrobial peptides synthesized on cellulose by peptide array technology. Nature Protocols, 3, 1652-1660. 

Hancock R E W, Patrzykat A (2002). Clinical development of cationic antimicrobial peptides Erom natural to novel antibiotics. Curr. Drug Targets Infect. Disord. 2 79-83. 

Figure 5 Direct antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activities of host defense peptides. Cationic host defense peptides exert their anti-infective activities through either direct antimicrobial activity or through modulation of the host immune response. HDP-mediated direct antimicrobial activity has been demonstrated in vivo for those HDPs that are either present at physiological concentrations that match their respective MIC values or are not inhibited by high salt or divalent cation concentrations. Most natural HDPs have also been demonstrated to be involved in the induction of innate and adaptive immune responses within the host as well as the selective suppression of proinflammatory responses. Ultimately,...

Liu, L.H., Xu, K.J., Wang, H.Y., et al. (2009). Self-assembled cationic peptide nanoparticles as an efficient antimicrobial agent. Nature Nanotechnol 4, 457-463. 

Cationic amphipathic CPs, whose nanotubes are oriented parallel to the membrane, have been found to have quite potent and selective antibiotic activity both in vitro and in vivo. The proposed mode of action for this type of peptide is based on a carpet-like mechanism, in which several nanotnbes lie parallel to the membrane surface. Antiviral activity has also been found for this type of CP and the mechanism of action proposed is based on interference of the virus fusion with the cell membrane. Interestingly, mannopeptimycins are very potent antimicrobial agents obtained from natural sources and these contain a hexacyclicpeptide that can be considered as a d,l-o -CP. The mechanism of action for these systems is not known yet, but could be based on the formation of amphipathic nanotnbes. Very recently, D,L-a-glycopeptide analogs have been designed and prepared for their potential applications as antimicrobial agents. ... 

One of our main goals is the design and development of new low-toxicity antimicrobial compounds to mimic natural amphiphilic cationic peptides [6-9], Via acyl, ester, and amide linkages, a simple and effective strategy has been... 

One important milestone in our research is the design and development of new amino acid-based surfactants with antimicrobial properties, which mimic natural amphiphilic cationic peptides [42,43]. To this end, Lys and Arg derivatives of long-chain A -acyl, COO-ester, and A-alkyl amide have been prepared. In particular, the A -acylarginine methyl ester derivatives series 1 (Scheme 1) have turned out to be an important class of cationic surface active compounds with a wide bactericidal activity, high biodegradability, and low toxicity profile. We have shown that essential structural factors for their antimicrobial activity include both the length of the fatty residue (akin with their solubility and surface activity) and the presence of the protonated guanidine function [43,44]. 

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