Preclinical investigations reveal the broad-spectrum neutralizing activity of peptide Pep19-2.5 on bacterial pathogenicity factors.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial infections are known to cause severe health-threatening conditions, including sepsis. All attempts to get this disease under control failed in the past, and especially in times of increasing antibiotic resistance, this leads to one of the most urgent medical challenges of our times. We designed a peptide to bind with high affinity to endotoxins, one of the most potent pathogenicity factors involved in triggering sepsis. The peptide Pep19-2.5 reveals high endotoxin neutralization efficiency in vitro, and here, we demonstrate its antiseptic/anti-inflammatory effects in vivo in the mouse models of endotoxemia, bacteremia, and cecal ligation and puncture, as well as in an ex vivo model of human tissue. Furthermore, we show that Pep19-2.5 can bind and neutralize not only endotoxins bu

SUBMITTER: Heinbockel L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3591871 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature