Title:Antimicrobial Peptides of Marine Crustaceans: The Potential and Challenges of Developing Therapeutic Agents
Volume: 25
Issue: 19
Author(s): Negar T. Zanjani, Monica Miranda-Saksena, Anthony L. Cunningham*Fariba Dehghani*
Affiliation:
- Centre for Virus Research, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW,Australia
- The University of Sydney, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Sydney, NSW,Australia
Keywords:
Antimicrobial activity, structure-activity relationship, antimicrobial peptides, mechanism of action, marine
peptides, crustaceans.
Abstract: The alarming increase of antimicrobial resistance has led to a growing number
of studies aiming to develop novel antimicrobial therapeutics. Natural antimicrobial peptides
possess a potent and broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity combined with diverse
and unique structural motifs, which confer their different mechanisms of action. These
peptides are ubiquitous in organisms and are integral to the innate immune system. Recently,
identification of antimicrobial peptides from marine crustaceans has become the
centre of attention of many researchers. This increasing interest stems from the remarkable
diversity in the structural and genetic composition of these peptides compared to terrestrial
counterparts. Thus, peptides from marine crustaceans can serve as future templates
for novel antimicrobial agents. Here, we provide an overview of various
antimicrobial peptides from the marine crustaceans, their antimicrobial activity and structure-
activity relationships. We also discuss the potential and challenges of their development
as new antimicrobial agents.
