The value of antimicrobial peptides in the age of resistance

Maria Magana; Muthuirulan Pushpanathan; Ana L Santos; Leon Leanse; Michael Fernandez; Anastasios Ioannidis; Marc A Giulianotti; Yiorgos Apidianakis; Steven Bradfute; Andrew L Ferguson; Artem Cherkasov; Mohamed N Seleem; Clemencia Pinilla; Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez; Themis Lazaridis; Tianhong Dai; Richard A Houghten; Robert E W Hancock; George P Tegos

doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30327-3

The value of antimicrobial peptides in the age of resistance

Lancet Infect Dis. 2020 Sep;20(9):e216-e230. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30327-3. Epub 2020 Jul 9.

Authors

Maria Magana¹, Muthuirulan Pushpanathan², Ana L Santos³, Leon Leanse⁴, Michael Fernandez⁵, Anastasios Ioannidis⁶, Marc A Giulianotti⁷, Yiorgos Apidianakis⁸, Steven Bradfute⁹, Andrew L Ferguson¹⁰, Artem Cherkasov⁵, Mohamed N Seleem¹¹, Clemencia Pinilla⁷, Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez¹², Themis Lazaridis¹³, Tianhong Dai⁴, Richard A Houghten⁷, Robert E W Hancock¹⁴, George P Tegos¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biopathology and Clinical Microbiology, Aeginition Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
² Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
³ Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA; Investigación Sanitaria de las Islas Baleares, Palma, Spain.
⁴ Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
⁵ Department of Urologic Sciences, Vancouver Prostate Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁶ Department of Nursing, University of Peloponnese, Sparta, Greece.
⁷ Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, Port St Lucie, FL, USA.
⁸ Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.
⁹ Department of Internal Medicine, Center for Global Health, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
¹⁰ Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
¹¹ Department of Comparative Pathobiology, Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
¹² Machine Biology Group, Departments of Psychiatry and Microbiology, Institute for Biomedical Informatics, Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, Penn Institute for Computational Science, and Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
¹³ Department of Chemistry, The City College of New York, New York, NY, USA; Graduate Programs in Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Physics, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, NY, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Centre for Microbial Diseases and Immunity Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
¹⁵ Reading Hospital, Tower Health, West Reading, PA, USA; Micromoria, Venture X Marlborough, Marlborough, MA, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 32653070
DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30327-3

Abstract

Accelerating growth and global expansion of antimicrobial resistance has deepened the need for discovery of novel antimicrobial agents. Antimicrobial peptides have clear advantages over conventional antibiotics which include slower emergence of resistance, broad-spectrum antibiofilm activity, and the ability to favourably modulate the host immune response. Broad bacterial susceptibility to antimicrobial peptides offers an additional tool to expand knowledge about the evolution of antimicrobial resistance. Structural and functional limitations, combined with a stricter regulatory environment, have hampered the clinical translation of antimicrobial peptides as potential therapeutic agents. Existing computational and experimental tools attempt to ease the preclinical and clinical development of antimicrobial peptides as novel therapeutics. This Review identifies the benefits, challenges, and opportunities of using antimicrobial peptides against multidrug-resistant pathogens, highlights advances in the deployment of novel promising antimicrobial peptides, and underlines the needs and priorities in designing focused development strategies taking into account the most advanced tools available.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / pharmacology*
Bacteria / drug effects*
Drug Resistance, Bacterial*

Substances

Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding