Antimicrobial Peptides, a Pool for Novel Cell Penetrating Peptides Development and Vice Versa

Abstract

Membrane active peptides are a family of peptides with ability to interact with plasma membrane. Cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) interact with membrane and enter cells via different pathways without damaging the membrane. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are peptides active against microorganisms. Both CPPs and AMPs belong to membrane active peptides family. AMPs interact with membrane and some are able to translocate into cells without the need of permanent permeabilization. Thus they have can be promising source of CPPs. Moreover, some CPPs have shown antimicrobial activity against pathogens. In this review we summarize the studies with the aim of developing functional and efficient CPPs and AMPs from existing and known peptide pool.