Re-engineering Antimicrobial Peptides into Oncolytics Targeting Drug-Resistant Ovarian Cancers.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Bacteria and cancer cells share a common trait-both possess an electronegative surface that distinguishes them from healthy mammalian counterparts. This opens opportunities to repurpose antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which are cationic amphiphiles that kill bacteria by disrupting their anionic cell envelope, into anticancer peptides (ACPs). To test this assertion, we investigate the mechanisms by which a pathogen-specific AMP, originally designed to kill bacterial Tuberculosis, potentiates the lytic destruction of drug-resistant cancers and synergistically enhances chemotherapeutic potency.

Materials and methods

De novo peptide design, paired with cellular assays, elucidate structure-activity relationships (SAR) important to ACP potency and specificity. U

SUBMITTER: Aronson MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7596148 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature