Design of novel analogues of short antimicrobial peptide anoplin with improved antimicrobial activity

作者:Wang, Yang; Chen, Jianbo; Zheng, Xin; Yang, Xiaoli; Ma, Panpan; Cai, Ying; Zhang, Bangzhi*; Chen, Yuan
来源:Journal of Peptide Science, 2014, 20(12): 945-951.
DOI:10.1002/psc.2705

摘要

Currently, novel antibiotics are urgently required to combat the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria. Antimicrobial peptides with membrane-lytic mechanism of action have attracted considerable interest. Anoplin, a natural -helical amphiphilic antimicrobial peptide, is an ideal research template because of its short sequence. In this study, we designed and synthesized a group of analogues of anoplin. Among these analogues, anoplin-4 composed of d-amino acids displayed the highest antimicrobial activity due to increased charge, hydrophobicity and amphiphilicity. Gratifyingly, anoplin-4 showed low toxicity to host cells, indicating high bacterial selectivity. Furthermore, the mortality rate of mice infected with Escherichia coli was significantly reduced by anoplin-4 treatment relative to anoplin. In conclusion, anoplin-4 is a novel anoplin analogue with high antimicrobial activity and enzymatic stability, which may represent a potent agent for the treatment of infection.