Dataset Information

Bioinspired Designs, Molecular Premise and Tools for Evaluating the Ecological Importance of Antimicrobial Peptides.

ABSTRACT: This review article provides an overview of recent developments in antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), summarizing structural diversity, potential new applications, activity targets and microbial killing responses in general. The use of artificial and natural AMPs as templates for rational design of peptidomimetics are also discussed and some strategies are put forward to curtail cytotoxic effects against eukaryotic cells. Considering the heat-resistant nature, chemical and proteolytic stability of AMPs, we attempt to summarize their molecular targets, examine how these macromolecules may contribute to potential environmental risks vis-à-vis the activities of the peptides. We further point out the evolutional characteristics of the macromolecules and indicate how they can be useful in designing target-specific peptides. Methods are suggested that may help to assess toxic mechanisms of AMPs and possible solutions are discussed to promote the development and application of AMPs in medicine. Even if there is wide exposure to the environment like in the hospital settings, AMPs may instead contribute to prevent healthcare-associated infections so long as ecotoxicological aspects are considered.

SUBMITTER: Ongey EL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6161137 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Bioinspired Designs, Molecular Premise and Tools for Evaluating the Ecological Importance of Antimicrobial Peptides.

Ongey Elvis Legala EL Pflugmacher Stephan S Neubauer Peter P

Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) 20180710 3

This review article provides an overview of recent developments in antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), summarizing structural diversity, potential new applications, activity targets and microbial killing responses in general. The use of artificial and natural AMPs as templates for rational design of peptidomimetics are also discussed and some strategies are put forward to curtail cytotoxic effects against eukaryotic cells. Considering the heat-resistant nature, chemical and proteolytic stability of A ...[more]

PMID: 29996512

Similar Datasets

Project description:The increasing number of antibiotic resistant bacteria motivates prospective research toward discovery of new antimicrobial active substances. There are, however, controversies concerning the cost-effectiveness of such research with regards to the description of new substances with novel cellular interactions, or description of new uses of existing substances to overcome resistance. Although examination of bacteria isolated from remote locations with limited exposure to humans has revealed an absence of antibiotic resistance genes, it is accepted that these genes were both abundant and diverse in ancient living organisms, as detected in DNA recovered from Pleistocene deposits (30,000 years ago). Indeed, even before the first clinical use of antibiotics more than 60 years ago, resistant organisms had been isolated. Bacteria can exhibit different strategies for resistance against antibiotics. New genetic information may lead to the modification of protein structure affecting the antibiotic carriage into the cell, enzymatic inactivation of drugs, or even modification of cellular structure interfering in the drug-bacteria interaction. There are still plenty of new genes out there in the environment that can be appropriated by putative pathogenic bacteria to resist antimicrobial agents. On the other hand, there are several natural compounds with antibiotic activity that may be used to oppose them. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are molecules which are wide-spread in all forms of life, from multi-cellular organisms to bacterial cells used to interfere with microbial growth. Several AMPs have been shown to be effective against multi-drug resistant bacteria and have low propensity to resistance development, probably due to their unique mode of action, different from well-known antimicrobial drugs. These substances may interact in different ways with bacterial cell membrane, protein synthesis, protein modulation, and protein folding. The analysis of bacterial transcriptome may contribute to the understanding of microbial strategies under different environmental stresses and allows the understanding of their interaction with novel AMPs.

Dataset Information

Bioinspired Designs, Molecular Premise and Tools for Evaluating the Ecological Importance of Antimicrobial Peptides.

Publications

Bioinspired Designs, Molecular Premise and Tools for Evaluating the Ecological Importance of Antimicrobial Peptides.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets