Abstract
Marine-derived antimicrobial compounds possess chemical diversity varying from peptides, fatty acids to terpenes, alkaloids, and polyketides. These compounds, especially of peptide origin called antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), are present in the majority of marine organisms, including microbes (bacteria and fungi), invertebrates (molluscs, echinoderms, and sponges), vertebrates (fish and mammals), and plants (marine algae). They are defined by small molecular weight (less than 10 kDa), a net positive charge, and amphipathic structures. Moreover, due to their profound in vitro antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities and a low risk for resistance development, naturally occurring marine-derived AMPs (mAMPs) have been used as drug design templates for a large variety of semi-synthetic or synthetic AMPs, some of which have reached clinical trials. This mini-review aims to discuss AMPs from marine sources, mainly emphasizing the engineering of these peptides with improved pharmacological properties to develop drug candidates. Some selected recent examples of these engineered mAMPs as anti-infective drug leads are herein highlighted.
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