STRUCTURE-FUNCTION-RELATIONSHIPS AND ENGINEERING OF HOST-DEFENSE PEPTIDES

Over the years, fatalities due to microbial infections have been reduc ed considerably due to the availability of a large number of potent an tibiotics, The mechanism of action of these antibiotics involves eithe r inhibition of bacterial cell wall synthesis, protein and nucleic aci d biosynthesis or enzyme activities crucial to bacterial metabolism, U nfortunately, in recent years, microorganisms have developed resistanc e to a large number of therapeutically used antibiotics which were ear lier very effective, Hence, the search for new molecules against which resistance may not develop easily is imperative, Species across the e volutionary scale from insects to mammals use peptides to combat bacte ria. The endogenous antibacterial peptides exert their activity by per meabilizing the bacterial membranes. In this review, the approaches th at have been employed in engineering endogenous antibacterial peptides to get molecules with improved activity, the biophysical properties t hat are responsible for activity and the possible therapeutic use of t hese class of peptides are discussed.