Enhancing Antimicrobial Peptide Potency through Multivalent Presentation on Coiled-Coil Nanofibrils.

ABSTRACT: Antibiotic-resistant microbes have become a global health threat. New delivery systems that enhance the efficacy of antibiotics and/or overcome the resistances can help combat them. In this context, we present FF03, a fibril-forming α-helical coiled-coil peptide that functions as an efficient scaffold for the multivalent presentation of the weakly cationic antimicrobial peptide (AMP) IN4. The resulting IN4-decorated FF03 coiled-coil fibrils (FF03 + IN4) are nonhemolytic and noncytotoxic and show enhanced antimicrobial activity relative to unconjugated IN4 and standard antibiotics against several bacterial strains. Scanning electron microscopy analysis shows that FF03 + IN4 nanofibers disrupt methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

SUBMITTER: Thota CK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7812673 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature