PaP1, a Broad-Spectrum Lysin-Derived Cationic Peptide to Treat Polymicrobial Skin Infections.

ABSTRACT: Most skin infections, including those complicating burns, are polymicrobial involving multiple causative bacteria. Add to this the fact that many of these organisms may be antibiotic-resistant, and a simple skin lesion or burn could soon become life-threatening. Membrane-acting cationic peptides from Gram-negative bacteriophage lysins can potentially aid in addressing the urgent need for alternative therapeutics. Such peptides natively constitute an amphipathic region within the structural composition of these lysins and function to permit outer membrane permeabilization in Gram-negative bacteria when added externally. This consequently allows the lysin to access and degrade the peptidoglycan substrate, resulting in rapid hypotonic lysis and bacterial death. When separated from the lysin,

SUBMITTER: Heselpoth RD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8965563 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature