Antimikrobiální peptidy: vztah mezi jejich strukturou a antibakteriální aktivitou

Abstrakt

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are an important component of natural defence of most living organisms against invading pathogens. AMPs are mostly cationic and amphipathic peptides (mol. weight <10 kDa) of variable length, amino acid sequence and structure. In the past two decades several AMPs have been isolated from a wide variety of animals, both vertebrates and invertebrates, and plants as well as from bacteria and fungi. The peptides exhibit a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against a wide range of microorganisms including Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, protozoa, yeasts, fungi and viruses. A few peptides are also cytotoxic to sperm and tumour cells. AMPs are classified by three-dimensional NMR structure analysis. To date, a number of AMPs have been chemically characterized. Structure-activity studies reveal two main requirements for antimicrobial activity - a positive charge and an induced amphipathic conformation. AMPs are excellent candidates for novel antimicrobial agents; a few peptides have undergone clinical trials.