Application of antimicrobial peptides as next-generation therapeutics in the biomedical world

ABSTRACT

Antimicrobial peptide (AMP), also called host defense peptide, is a part of the innate immune system in eukaryotic organisms. AMPs are also produced by prokaryotes in response to stressful conditions and environmental changes. They have a broad spectrum of activity against both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. They are also effective against viruses, fungi, parasites, and cancer cells. AMPs are cationic or amphipathic in nature, but in recent years cationic AMPs have attracted a lot of attention because cationic AMPs can easily interact with negatively charged bacterial and cancer cell membranes through electrostatic interaction. AMPs can also eradicate bacterial biofilms and have broad-spectrum activity against multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria. Although the main target site for AMPs is the cell membrane, they can also disrupt bacterial cell walls, interfere with protein folding and inhibit enzymatic activity. In recent centuries antibiotics are gradually losing their potential because of the continuous rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel therapeutic approaches to treat MDR bacteria, and AMP is such an alternative treatment option over conventional antibiotics. Several communicable diseases like tuberculosis and non-communicable diseases such as cancer can be treated by using AMPs. One of the major advantages of using AMP is that it works with high specificity and does not cause any harm to normal tissue. AMPs can be modified to improve their efficacy. In this narrative review, we are focusing on the potential application of AMPs in medical science.

KEYWORDS:

• Antimicrobial peptides
• anti-biofilm agent
• therapeutic agents
• diseases

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi.

Notes on contributors

Manjari Datta

Manjari Datta completed her Master degree in Microbiology. She is doing her Ph.D. under the guidence of Dr. Indranil Chattopadhyay at Department of Biotechnology, Central University of Tamil Nadu, India. She is working on evaluate the effect of antimicrobial peptides on oral biofilm.

Ashwin Rajeev

Ashwin Rajeev is final year Integrated Master student of Life Science at Department of Biotechnology, Central University of Tamil Nadu.

Indranil Chattopadhyay

Dr. Indranil Chattopadhyay did his Ph.D at National Institute of Pathology, Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, India and he completed his post doctoral training at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, USA. He published research papers in peer reviewed journals in advanced genomic technology such as microarray, next-generation sequencing technology such as DNA and RNA library preparation, and ChIP-sequencing, metagenomic library preparation for NGS technology, Real-Time PCR, and bioinformatics data analysis. He already published his research work related to oral microbiome and gut mirobiome in several peer reviewed journals with high impact factors. His present researck work is funded by Indian Council of Medical Research (45/2020-2541/Gen/Adhoc-BMS).