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Bull TJ, Munshi T, Lopez-Perez PM, Tran AC, Cosgrove C, Bartolf A, Menichini M, Rindi L, Parigger L, Malanovic N, Lohner K, Wang CJH, Fatima A, Martin LL, Esin S, Batoni G, Hilpert K. Specific Cationic Antimicrobial Peptides Enhance the Recovery of Low-Load Quiescent Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Routine Diagnostics. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:17555. [PMID: 38139385 PMCID: PMC10743970 DOI: 10.3390/ijms242417555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2023] [Revised: 12/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The culture confirmation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of Tuberculosis (TB) with culture conversion representing proof of cure. However, over 40% of TB samples fail to isolate MTB even though many patients remain infectious due to the presence of viable non-culturable forms. Previously, we have shown that two short cationic peptides, T14D and TB08L, induce a hormetic response at low concentrations, leading to a stimulation of growth in MTB and the related animal pathogen Mycobacterium bovis (bTB). Here, we examine these peptides showing they can influence the mycobacterial membrane integrity and function through membrane potential reduction. We also show this disruption is associated with an abnormal reduction in transcriptomic signalling from specific mycobacterial membrane sensors that normally monitor the immediate cellular environment and maintain the non-growing phenotype. We observe that exposing MTB or bTB to these peptides at optimal concentrations rapidly represses signalling mechanisms maintaining dormancy phenotypes, which leads to the promotion of aerobic metabolism and conversion into a replicative phenotype. We further show a practical application of these peptides as reagents able to enhance conventional routine culture methods by stimulating mycobacterial growth. We evaluated the ability of a peptide-supplemented sample preparation and culture protocol to isolate the MTB against a gold standard routine method tested in parallel on 255 samples from 155 patients with suspected TB. The peptide enhancement increased the sample positivity rate by 46% and decreased the average time to sample positivity of respiratory/faecal sampling by seven days. The most significant improvements in isolation rates were from sputum smear-negative low-load samples and faeces. The peptide enhancement increased sampling test sensitivity by 19%, recovery in samples from patients with a previously culture-confirmed TB by 20%, and those empirically treated for TB by 21%. We conclude that sample decontamination and culture enhancement with D-enantiomer peptides offer good potential for the much-needed improvement of the culture confirmation of TB.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim J. Bull
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, St. George’s, University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, UK (K.H.)
| | - Tulika Munshi
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, St. George’s, University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, UK (K.H.)
| | | | - Andy C. Tran
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, St. George’s, University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, UK (K.H.)
| | - Catherine Cosgrove
- St. George’s Hospital NHS Trust, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, UK; (C.C.)
| | - Angela Bartolf
- St. George’s Hospital NHS Trust, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, UK; (C.C.)
| | - Melissa Menichini
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy (L.R.); (S.E.); (G.B.)
| | - Laura Rindi
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy (L.R.); (S.E.); (G.B.)
| | - Lena Parigger
- Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Biophysics Division, University of Graz, Humboldstrasse 50/III, 800 Graz, Austria; (L.P.); (K.L.)
| | - Nermina Malanovic
- Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Biophysics Division, University of Graz, Humboldstrasse 50/III, 800 Graz, Austria; (L.P.); (K.L.)
| | - Karl Lohner
- Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Biophysics Division, University of Graz, Humboldstrasse 50/III, 800 Graz, Austria; (L.P.); (K.L.)
| | - Carl J. H. Wang
- School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia (A.F.); (L.L.M.)
| | - Anam Fatima
- School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia (A.F.); (L.L.M.)
| | - Lisandra L. Martin
- School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia (A.F.); (L.L.M.)
| | - Semih Esin
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy (L.R.); (S.E.); (G.B.)
| | - Giovanna Batoni
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy (L.R.); (S.E.); (G.B.)
| | - Kai Hilpert
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, St. George’s, University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, UK (K.H.)
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2
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Ramezanzadeh M, Saeedi N, Mesbahfar E, Farrokh P, Salimi F, Rezaei A. Design and characterization of new antimicrobial peptides derived from aurein 1.2 with enhanced antibacterial activity. Biochimie 2020; 181:42-51. [PMID: 33271197 DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2020.11.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2020] [Revised: 11/18/2020] [Accepted: 11/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are promising alternative agents for treating multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. Aurein 1.2 is a natural 13-amino acid AMP with antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria. In this study, we designed three novel AMPs: aurein M1 (A10W), aurein M2 (D4K, E11K), and aurein M3 (A10W, D4K, E11K) to analyze the effect of Trp substitution and enhancement of positive charge on the activity of aurein 1.2. The AMP probability, physicochemical properties, secondary and tertiary structures, and amphipathic structure were predicted by various bioinformatics tools. After the synthesis of the peptides, their antibacterial activity, hemolysis, cytotoxicity, and structural analysis were assayed. Compared to the selectivity of aurein 1.2, the selectivity of aurein M2 and M3 with a net positive charge of +5 was improved 11.30- and 8.00-fold against Gram-positive and -negative bacteria, respectively. The hemolytic activity of aurein M2 was lower than that of aurein 1.2 and M3, while the higher percentage of human fibroblast cells were alive in the presence of aurein M3. Also, the MICs of aurein M3 toward Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli at the physiologic salt were ≤16, which is recommended as a promising candidate for clinical investigation. Circular dichroism analysis indicated an alpha-helical structure in the peptide analogs that is similar to aurein 1.2 in the presence of 10 mM SDS. Therefore, increasing positive charge can be used successfully as an approach for improving the potency and selectivity of AMPs. Moreover, the beneficial effect of Trp substitution depends on its position and the sequence of peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nasrin Saeedi
- School of Biology, Damghan University, Damghan, Iran
| | | | - Parisa Farrokh
- School of Biology, Damghan University, Damghan, Iran; Institute of Biological Sciences, Damghan University, Damghan, Iran.
| | | | - Arezou Rezaei
- School of Biology, Damghan University, Damghan, Iran; Institute of Biological Sciences, Damghan University, Damghan, Iran
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3
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Pandidan S, Mechler A. Membrane morphology effects in quartz crystal microbalance characterization of antimicrobial peptide activity. Biophys Chem 2020; 262:106381. [PMID: 32361097 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpc.2020.106381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2020] [Revised: 04/15/2020] [Accepted: 04/19/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The mechanism of action of membrane disrupting antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and the basis of their specificity and selectivity to pathogens are often studied by using biomimetic model membranes. It is often assumed that all model membrane morphologies, e.g. liposomes, supported bilayers, tethered bilayers etc. are equivalent. In this work the validity of this assumption was assessed. Melittin was used as the reference AMP as it can disrupt both bacterial and mammalian-mimetic membranes. Quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) viscoelastic fingerprints show characteristic differences between the three model morphologies: single bilayer membranes, multilamellar membrane stacks and unilamellar liposomes. In the second and third case, initial trends show material removal instead of material addition as in the single bilayer case, consistent with dissolution of some bilayers, and bursting liposomes, respectively. The latter is accompanied by a characteristic drop in the dissipation signal as the liposomes collapse. The results also highlight an important limitation of the QCM method, the need for a well established reference system for qualitative analysis of the viscoelastic fingerprints, and thus the importance of using the right model system, i.e. single bilayer membrane, for studies of the mechanism of action of AMPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Pandidan
- La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Adam Mechler
- La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
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4
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Pandidan S, Mechler A. Nano-viscosimetry analysis of the membrane disrupting action of the bee venom peptide melittin. Sci Rep 2019; 9:10841. [PMID: 31346251 PMCID: PMC6658469 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-47325-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2019] [Accepted: 07/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Melittin is one of the most studied α-helical cationic membrane disrupting peptides. It is the main component of bee venom, however it is considered an antimicrobial peptide for its ability to kill bacteria. Melittin is believed to act by opening large toroidal pores in the plasma membrane of the targeted cells/bacteria, although this is questioned by some authors. Little is known, however, about the molecular mechanism leading to this activity. In this study the mechanism of action of melittin was studied by dye leakage and quartz crystal microbalance fingerprinting analysis in biomimetic model membranes. The results revealed the existence of multiple stages in the membrane disrupting action with characteristic differences between different membrane types. In bacterial-mimetic (charged) lipid mixtures the viscoelastic fingerprints suggest a surface-acting mechanism, whereas in mammalian-mimetic (neutral) membranes melittin appears to penetrate the bilayer already at low concentrations. In domain-forming mixed membranes melittin shows a preference for the domain containing predominantly zwitterionic lipids. The results confirm membrane poration but are inconsistent with the insertion-to-toroidal pore pathway. Therefore hypotheses of the two membrane disrupting pathways were developed, describing the membrane disruption as either surface tension modulation leading to toroidal pore formation, or linear aggregation leading to fissure formation in the membrane.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Pandidan
- La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Adam Mechler
- La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
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5
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Poger D, Pöyry S, Mark AE. Could Cardiolipin Protect Membranes against the Action of Certain Antimicrobial Peptides? Aurein 1.2, a Case Study. ACS OMEGA 2018; 3:16453-16464. [PMID: 30613806 PMCID: PMC6312644 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.8b02710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2018] [Accepted: 11/20/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The activity of a host of antimicrobial peptides has been examined against a range of lipid bilayers mimicking bacterial and eukaryotic membranes. Despite this, the molecular mechanisms and the nature of the physicochemical properties underlying the peptide-lipid interactions that lead to membrane disruption are yet to be fully elucidated. In this study, the interaction of the short antimicrobial peptide aurein 1.2 was examined in the presence of an anionic cardiolipin-containing lipid bilayer using molecular dynamics simulations. Aurein 1.2 is known to interact strongly with anionic lipid membranes. In the simulations, the binding of aurein 1.2 was associated with buckling of the lipid bilayer, the degree of which varied with the peptide concentration. The simulations suggest that the intrinsic properties of cardiolipin, especially the fact that it promotes negative membrane curvature, may help protect membranes against the action of peptides such as aurein 1.2 by counteracting the tendency of the peptide to induce positive curvature in target membranes.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Poger
- School
of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Sanja Pöyry
- Department
of Physics, Tampere University of Technology, POB 692, F1-33720 Tampere, Finland
| | - Alan E. Mark
- School
of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
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6
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Antimicrobial peptides: biochemical determinants of activity and biophysical techniques of elucidating their functionality. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 2018; 34:62. [PMID: 29651655 DOI: 10.1007/s11274-018-2444-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2017] [Accepted: 04/05/2018] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been established over millennia as powerful components of the innate immune system of many organisms. Due to their broad spectrum of activity and the development of host resistance against them being unlikely, AMPs are strong candidates for controlling drug-resistant pathogenic microbial pathogens. AMPs cause cell death through several independent or cooperative mechanisms involving membrane lysis, non-lytic activity, and/or intracellular mechanisms. Biochemical determinants such as peptide length, primary sequence, charge, secondary structure, hydrophobicity, amphipathicity and host cell membrane composition together influence the biological activities of peptides. A number of biophysical techniques have been used in recent years to study the mechanisms of action of AMPs. This work appraises the molecular parameters that determine the biocidal activity of AMPs and overviews their mechanisms of actions and the diverse biochemical, biophysical and microscopy techniques utilised to elucidate these.
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7
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John T, Abel B, Martin LL. The Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation Monitoring (QCM-D) Technique Applied to the Study of Membrane-Active Peptides. Aust J Chem 2018. [DOI: 10.1071/ch18129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
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8
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Phenylalanine residues act as membrane anchors in the antimicrobial action of Aurein 1.2. Biointerphases 2017; 12:05G605. [PMID: 29078702 DOI: 10.1116/1.4995674] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Aurein 1.2 is a small cationic antimicrobial peptide, one of the shortest peptides that can exert antimicrobial activity at low micromolar concentrations. Aurein 1.2 is a surface acting peptide, following the "carpet" mechanism of thresholded membrane disruption. It is generally assumed that the activity of such cationic α-helical membrane disrupting peptides is charge driven. Here, the authors show that instead of charge interactions, aromatic phenylalanine residues of the Aurein 1.2 sequence facilitate the membrane binding. The activity of the wild type peptide was compared to mutants in which the Phe residues were substituted, singly and in tandem, with alanine. Measurements by quartz crystal microbalance, impedance spectroscopy, and dye leakage experiments demonstrated that single residue mutants retain a much-reduced activity whereas the deletion of both Phe residues prevents membrane disruption entirely. The single residue mutants exhibited an altered mechanism of action, permeabilizing but not dissolving the target membranes. These results offer a new design rule for membrane disrupting peptides with potential pharmacological applications.
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Shahmiri M, Enciso M, Adda CG, Smith BJ, Perugini MA, Mechler A. Membrane Core-Specific Antimicrobial Action of Cathelicidin LL-37 Peptide Switches Between Pore and Nanofibre Formation. Sci Rep 2016; 6:38184. [PMID: 27901075 PMCID: PMC5128859 DOI: 10.1038/srep38184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2016] [Accepted: 11/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Membrane-disrupting antimicrobial peptides provide broad-spectrum defence against localized bacterial invasion in a range of hosts including humans. The most generally held consensus is that targeting to pathogens is based on interactions with the head groups of membrane lipids. Here we show that the action of LL-37, a human antimicrobial peptide switches the mode of action based on the structure of the alkyl chains, and not the head groups of the membrane forming lipids. We demonstrate that LL-37 exhibits two distinct interaction pathways: pore formation in bilayers of unsaturated phospholipids and membrane modulation with saturated phospholipids. Uniquely, the membrane modulation yields helical-rich fibrous peptide-lipid superstructures. Our results point at alternative design strategies for peptide antimicrobials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahdi Shahmiri
- La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Australia
| | - Marta Enciso
- La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Australia
| | - Christopher G Adda
- La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Australia
| | - Brian J Smith
- La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Australia
| | - Matthew A Perugini
- La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Australia
| | - Adam Mechler
- La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Australia
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10
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Müller AT, Kaymaz AC, Gabernet G, Posselt G, Wessler S, Hiss JA, Schneider G. Sparse Neural Network Models of Antimicrobial Peptide-Activity Relationships. Mol Inform 2016; 35:606-614. [DOI: 10.1002/minf.201600029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2016] [Accepted: 06/13/2016] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Alex T. Müller
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH); Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences; Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 4 CH-8093 Zurich Switzerland
| | - Aral C. Kaymaz
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH); Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences; Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 4 CH-8093 Zurich Switzerland
| | - Gisela Gabernet
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH); Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences; Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 4 CH-8093 Zurich Switzerland
| | - Gernot Posselt
- Department of Molecular Biology, Division of Microbiology, Paris Lodron; University of Salzburg; Billrothstr. 11 A-5020 Salzburg Austria
| | - Silja Wessler
- Department of Molecular Biology, Division of Microbiology, Paris Lodron; University of Salzburg; Billrothstr. 11 A-5020 Salzburg Austria
| | - Jan A. Hiss
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH); Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences; Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 4 CH-8093 Zurich Switzerland
| | - Gisbert Schneider
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH); Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences; Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 4 CH-8093 Zurich Switzerland
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11
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Shahmiri M, Enciso M, Mechler A. Controls and constrains of the membrane disrupting action of Aurein 1.2. Sci Rep 2015; 5:16378. [PMID: 26574052 PMCID: PMC4648102 DOI: 10.1038/srep16378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2015] [Accepted: 10/13/2015] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Aurein 1.2 is a 13 residue antimicrobial peptide secreted by the Australian tree frog Litoria Aurea. It is a surface-acting membrane disrupting peptide that permeabilizes bacterial membranes via the carpet mechanism; the molecular details of this process are mostly unknown. Here the mechanism of action of Aurein 1.2 was investigated with an emphasis on the role of membrane charge and C-terminal amidation of the peptide. Using quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) fingerprinting it was found that the membrane charge correlates with membrane affinity of the peptide, however the binding and the membrane disrupting processes are not charge driven; increased membrane charge reduces the membrane disrupting activity. Coarse grain simulations revealed that phenylalanine residues act as membrane anchors. Accordingly Aurein 1.2 has the ability to bind to any membrane. Furthermore, bundling precludes membrane disruption in case of wild type peptides, while non C-terminal amidated peptides form random aggregates leading to detachment from the membrane. Hence C-terminal amidation is crucial for Aurein 1.2 action. Our results suggest that Aurein 1.2 acts via aggregation driven membrane penetration. The concomitant change in the tension of the outer leaflet imposes a spontaneous curvature on the membrane, leading to disintegration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahdi Shahmiri
- Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora Vic 3086, Australia
| | - Marta Enciso
- Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora Vic 3086, Australia
| | - Adam Mechler
- Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora Vic 3086, Australia
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