Title:A Therapeutic Potential of Animal β-hairpin Antimicrobial Peptides
Volume: 24
Issue: 17
Author(s): Pavel V. Panteleev, Sergey V. Balandin, Vadim T. Ivanov and Tatiana V. Ovchinnikova*
Affiliation:
- M.M. Shemyakin and Yu.A.Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya str., 16/10, 117997 Moscow,Russian Federation
Keywords:
Antimicrobial peptides, host defense, innate immunity, peptide therapeutics, β-hairpin structure,
disulfide bridge.
Abstract: Endogenous antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are evolutionary ancient molecular
factors of innate immunity that play the key role in host defense. Because of the low resistance
rate, AMPs have caught extensive attention as possible alternatives to conventional antibiotics.
Over the last years, it has become evident that biological functions of AMPs are beyond
direct killing of microbial cells. This review focuses on a relatively small family of animal
host defense peptides with the β-hairpin structure stabilized by disulfide bridges. Their
small size, rigid structure, stability to proteases, and plethora of biological functions, including
antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anticancer, endotoxin-binding, metabolism- and immune-
modulating activities, make natural β-hairpin AMPs an attractive molecular basis for
drug design.
