Encounters on the membrane: the role of charged peptides in bilayer disruption

Abstract

Each year at least 2.8 million people are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria resulting in more than 35,000 deaths. One possible therapeutic avenue are antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which have become promising candidates for clinical and cancer applications due to their membrane disruption action. Biophysical experiments have shown electrostatics to primarily drive AMP’s selectivity, and human cholesterol attenuation for AMP’s potency. However, the peptide’s mechanism and influence of sterols at atomic level remains unclear hindering the design of new AMPs to treat disease.