How Melittin Inserts into Cell Membrane: Conformational Changes, Inter-Peptide Cooperation, and Disturbance on the Membrane.

ABSTRACT: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), as a key component of the immune defense systems of organisms, are a promising solution to the serious threat of drug-resistant bacteria to public health. As one of the most representative and extensively studied AMPs, melittin has exceptional broad-spectrum activities against microorganisms, including both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Unfortunately, the action mechanism of melittin with bacterial membranes, especially the underlying physics of peptide-induced membrane poration behaviors, is still poorly understood, which hampers efforts to develop melittin-based drugs or agents for clinical applications. In this mini-review, we focus on recent advances with respect to the membrane insertion behavior of melittin mostly from a computational aspect

SUBMITTER: Hong J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6539814 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature