Interaction of the antimicrobial peptide polymyxin B1 with both membranes of E. coli: a molecular dynamics study.

ABSTRACT: Antimicrobial peptides are small, cationic proteins that can induce lysis of bacterial cells through interaction with their membranes. Different mechanisms for cell lysis have been proposed, but these models tend to neglect the role of the chemical composition of the membrane, which differs between bacterial species and can be heterogeneous even within a single cell. Moreover, the cell envelope of Gram-negative bacteria such as E. coli contains two membranes with differing compositions. To this end, we report the first molecular dynamics simulation study of the interaction of the antimicrobial peptide, polymyxin B1 with complex models of both the inner and outer membranes of E. coli. The results of >16 microseconds of simulation predict that polymyxin B1 is likely to interact with the memb

SUBMITTER: Berglund NA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4401565 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature