The limits of prediction: Why intrinsically disordered regions challenge our understanding of antimicrobial peptides.

ABSTRACT: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are molecules found in most organisms, playing a vital role in innate immune defense against pathogens. Their mechanism of action involves the disruption of bacterial cell membranes, causing leakage of cellular contents and ultimately leading to cell death. While AMPs typically lack a defined structure in solution, they often assume a defined conformation when interacting with bacterial membranes. Given this structural flexibility, we investigated whether intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) with AMP-like properties could exhibit antimicrobial activity. We tested 14 peptides from different IDRs predicted to have antimicrobial activity and found that nearly all of them did not display the anticipated effects. These peptides failed to adopt a defined secondar

SUBMITTER: Bello-Madruga R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10884422 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature