Antimicrobial Peptides: Primeval Molecules or Future Drugs?

Antimicrobial Peptides: Primeval Molecules or Future Drugs?

1 Graduate Program in Life Sciences, Microbiology and Immunology Program, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America, 2 Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, Dental School, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America, 3 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryla...

Antimicrobial peptides: The miraculous biological molecules

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are biological molecules bridging the innate and acquired immune systems of the defense mechanism. They have been found to be effective against not only Gram-positive and -negative bacterial species but also fungi and viruses with their broad spectrum of activity. Among the various niches where they are found in the human body, in the oral cavity, the AMPs are secr...

Antimicrobial peptides: Old Molecules with New Ideas

Almost 90 years have passed since Alexander Fleming discovered the antimicrobial activity of lysozyme, the first natural antibiotic isolated from our body. Since then, various types of molecules with antibiotic activity have been isolated from animals, insects, plants, and bacteria, and their use has revolutionized clinical medicine. So far, more than 1,200 types of peptides with antimicrobial ...

Antimicrobial Peptides: Multifunctional Drugs for Different Applications

Antimicrobial peptides (APs) are an important part of the innate immune system in epithelial and non-epithelial surfaces. So far, many different antimicrobial peptides from various families have been discovered in non-vertebrates and vertebrates. They are characterized by antibiotic, antifungal and antiviral activities against a variety of microorganisms. In addition to their role as endogenous...

Cationic antimicrobial peptides. A future therapeutic option?