Host Defense Peptides from Asian Frogs as Potential Clinical Therapies

Vineeth T V Kumar; David Holthausen; Joshy Jacob; Sanil George

doi:10.3390/antibiotics4020136

Host Defense Peptides from Asian Frogs as Potential Clinical Therapies

Antibiotics (Basel). 2015 Mar 30;4(2):136-59. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics4020136.

Authors

Vineeth T V Kumar¹, David Holthausen², Joshy Jacob³, Sanil George⁴

Affiliations

¹ Molecular Ecology Lab, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 695014, India. [email protected].
² Emory Vaccine Center, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, 954 Gatewood Rd, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA. [email protected].
³ Emory Vaccine Center, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, 954 Gatewood Rd, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA. [email protected].
⁴ Molecular Ecology Lab, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 695014, India. [email protected].

Abstract

Host defense peptides (HDPs) are currently major focal points of medical research as infectious microbes are gaining resistance to existing drugs. They are effective against multi-drug resistant pathogens due to their unique primary target, biological membranes, and their peculiar mode of action. Even though HDPs from 60 Asian frog species belonging to 15 genera have been characterized, research into these peptides is at a very early stage. The purpose of this review is to showcase the status of peptide research in Asia. Here we provide a summary of HDPs from Asian frogs.

Keywords: Anti-microbial peptides; Asian frog; Host defense peptides; Multi-drug resistance.

Publication types

Review