Affiliation:
1. Department of Medical Laboratory, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong, 261053, P.R. China
2. Institutional Key Laboratory of Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics, 12th 5-Year Project of Shandong Province, Weifang
Medical University, Weifang, Shandong, 261053, P.R. China
Abstract
Abstract:
The high global burden of tuberculosis (TB) and the increasing emergence of the drugresistant
(DR) strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) emphasize the urgent need for novel antimycobacterial
agents. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are small peptides widely existing in a variety
of organisms and usually have amphiphilic cationic structures, which have a selective affinity to the
negatively charged bacterial cell wall. Besides direct bactericidal mechanisms, including interacting
with the bacterial cell membrane and interfering with the biosynthesis of the cell wall, DNA, or
protein, some AMPs are involved in the host's innate immunity. AMPs are promising alternative or
complementary agents for the treatment of DR-TB, given their various antibacterial mechanisms and
low cytotoxicity. A large number of AMPs, synthetic or natural, from human to bacteriophage
sources, have displayed potent anti-mycobacterial activity in vitro and in vivo. In this review, we
summarized the features, antimycobacterial activity, and mechanisms of action of the AMPs according
to their sources. Although AMPs have not yet met the expectations for clinical application due to their
low bioavailabilities, high cost, and difficulties in large-scale production, their potent
antimycobacterial activity and action mechanisms, which are different from conventional antibiotics,
make them promising antibacterial agents against DR-Mtb in the future.
Funder
Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China
Medical and Health Science and Technology Development Program of Shandong Province, China
Publisher
Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.
Subject
Biochemistry,General Medicine,Structural Biology