Antimicrobial and cell-penetrating peptides have been the object of extensive studies for more than 60 years. Initially these two families were studied separately, recently parallels drawn. These given rise to numerous methodological developments both in terms observation techniques membrane models. This review presents some most recent original innovative this field, namely droplet interface b...

Cell penetrating peptides have been regarded as promising vectors to deliver hydrophilic molecules inside cells. Although they are great tools for research and have high potential as drug delivery systems, their application as drugs is impaired by their low stability in serum. Cyclotides, cyclic disulfide-rich peptides from plants, are ultra-stable molecules that have inspired applications in d...

Cyclic peptides have great potential as therapeutic agents and research tools but are generally impermeable to the cell membrane. Fusion of cyclic peptides with a cyclic cell-penetrating peptide produces bicyclic peptides that are cell-permeable and retain the ability to recognize specific intracellular targets. Application of this strategy to protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B and a peptidyl-prol...

Although cell-penetrating peptides are able to deliver cargo into cells, their uptake mechanism is still not fully understood and needs to be elucidated to improve their delivery efficiency. Herein, we present evidence of a new mechanism involved in uptake, the membrane repair response. Recent studies have suggested that there might be a direct penetration of peptides in parallel with different...

Cell penetrating peptides have demonstrated potential to facilitate the cellular delivery of therapeutic molecules. Here we develop a set of 50 cell penetrating peptide based formulations with potential to deliver small interfering RNAs intercellularly. The transfection efficacy of siRNA containing lipid-like nanoparticles decorated with different peptides was evaluated both in vitro and in viv...

A crucial aspect of drug delivery is efficient transport to the site of action. Thus, there is a need to design and evaluate new delivery vehicles. In this thesis two delivery vehicles, cell-penetrating peptides and bacterial ghosts, were evaluated. The understanding of the internalization and degradation kinetics of cell-penetrating peptides is important for the practical aspects of cargo deli...