Issue 24, 2020

Role and modulation of the secondary structure of antimicrobial peptides to improve selectivity

Abstract

Since the development of bacterial resistance, the decreasing effectiveness of antibiotics is becoming one of the most critical problems worldwide. Novel antibacterial agents are urgently needed to prevent humanity from falling back into the “post-antibiotic era”. As an important part of the innate immune system, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are one of the most promising antibacterial agents showing broad-spectrum activity against bacteria and low propensity for drug resistance. However, the shortcomings of AMPs, such as high toxicity and easy digestion by proteases, limit their clinical application. This review mainly focuses on the effect of the secondary structure on the antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity of AMPs and the strategies of designing conformationally transitionable AMPs with improved selectivity towards bacteria.

Graphical abstract: Role and modulation of the secondary structure of antimicrobial peptides to improve selectivity

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
15 5 2020
Accepted
23 7 2020
First published
24 7 2020

Biomater. Sci., 2020,8, 6858-6866

Role and modulation of the secondary structure of antimicrobial peptides to improve selectivity

Y. Liang, X. Zhang, Y. Yuan, Y. Bao and M. Xiong, Biomater. Sci., 2020, 8, 6858 DOI: 10.1039/D0BM00801J

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