Evolution Of Antimicrobial Peptides

In this text, the small team of expert authors presents the field in a comprehensive and accessible manner that is well suited for students and junior researchers. The result is a highly readable and systematically structured introduction to antimicrobial peptides, their structure, biological function and mode of action. The authors point the way towards a rational design of this potentially highly effective new class of clinical antibiotics on the brink of industrial application. They do this by discussing their design principles, target membranes and structure-activity relationships. The final part of the book describes recent successes in the application of peptides as anticancer agents.

This book presents an overview of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), their mechanisms of antimicrobial action, other activities, and various problems that must still be overcome regarding their clinical application. Divided into four major parts, the book begins with a general overview of AMPs (Part I), and subsequently discusses the various mechanisms of antimicrobial action and methods for researching them (Part 2). It then addresses a range of activities other than antimicrobial action, such as cell penetration, antisepsis, anticancer, and immunomodulatory activities (Part 3), and explores the prospects of clinical application from various standpoints such as the selective toxicity, design, and discovery of AMPs (Part 4). A huge number of AMPs have been discovered in plants, insects, and vertebrates including humans, and constitute host defense systems against invading pathogenic microorganisms. Consequently, many attempts have been made to utilize AMPs as antibiotics. AMPs could help to solve the urgent problem of drug-resistant bacteria, and are also promising with regard to sepsis and cancer therapy. Gathering a wealth of information, this book will be a bible for all those seeking to develop antibiotics, anti-sepsis, or anticancer agents based on AMPs.

Over the last century, antibiotics have been a primary treatment for infectious diseases, and indiscriminate use by both healthcare providers and patients has led to the rapid emergence of resistant pathogens. Multidrug-resistant pathogens and infective agents are an urgent threat to global health, and this issue has created a critical need for the investigation of alternatives to conventional antibiotics. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have emerged as promising alternative therapeutics, with studies on their mechanisms and applications an area of intense interest in agricultural science, physiology, and medicine. AMPS are naturally occurring components of the host defense system, and functional throughout all orders of life, from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. They are potent molecules with broad spectrum activities against infectious agents, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites. AMPs have demonstrated therapeutic potential against non-infectious diseases like chronic inflammation and cancer, and have been found to have potential activities against slow-growing bacteria, such as biofilms. This book summarizes the current available research on AMPs, including discovery, screening, and characterization, for therapeutic applications. It discusses molecular biology, proteomics, genomics, and bioinformatics approaches. In addition, it covers AMP classification and evolutionary studies, from prokaryotes to eukaryotes.

Antimicrobial Peptides: Challenges and Future Perspectives covers the latest developments about antimicrobial peptides in the scenario of drug resistance. The book is divided into 16 chapters arranged in sequence and preceded by chapters on historical developments and their role as regulatory molecules in innate defense mechanism. Emphasis is given to purification techniques and characterization suitable for interdisciplinary research. Chapters provide an inventory of various antimicrobial peptides, from a diverse array of organisms such as bacteria, fungi, insects, amphibians, plants and mammals. A section on marine ecosystem broadens readers understanding on marine based antimicrobial peptides. Additional sections provide an informative overview on peptides with antiviral properties and those targeting multi-drug resistant bacteria. Recent reports and mechanism on resistance against antimicrobial peptides are also provided, along with key insights into the challenges and future perspectives of peptide drug development. Emphasizes antimicrobial peptides targeting various human viruses and multidrug resistant bacteria Written by internationally recognized experts who provide readers with a wide and useful perspective Provides in-depth resources for undertaking a research work in antimicrobial peptides with the inclusion of chapters on purification techniques and structural details Addresses the possibility and availability of peptide antibiotics in the global drug market Serves as a complete resource from the discovery to drug development of peptide antibiotics

Antimicrobial peptides have been the subject of intense research in the past decades, and are now considered as an essential part of the defense system in bacteria, plants, animals and humans. his book provides an update on these effector molecules of the innate immune system both for researchers who are already actively involved in the area, and for those with a general interest in the topic. The book starts with an overview of the evolution of cysteine-containing antimicrobial peptides (including defensins), and the role of these peptides in host defense in plants and micro-organisms. The realization that antimicrobial peptides also display functions distinct from their direct antimicrobial action is the focus of the next chapters, and puts these peptides center stage in immunity and wound repair. Further chapters discuss the role of antimicrobial peptides in disease, by providing an overview of mechanisms in bacterial resistance to antimicrobial peptides and a discussion of their role in inflammatory bowel disease, cystic fibrosis lung disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Finally, the book shows how knowledge of the function of antimicrobial peptides and their regulation can be used to design new therapies for inflammatory and infectious disorders. This is a very important area of research because of the increase in resistance of micro-organisms to conventional antibiotics. Therefore the use of synthetic or recombinant peptides, or agents that stimulate the endogenous production of antimicrobial peptides, provides an attractive alternative for conventional antibiotics.

Dr. Joshua Lederberg - scientist, Nobel laureate, visionary thinker, and friend of the Forum on Microbial Threats - died on February 2, 2008. It was in his honor that the Institute of Medicine's Forum on Microbial Threats convened a public workshop on May 20-21, 2008, to examine Dr. Lederberg's scientific and policy contributions to the marketplace of ideas in the life sciences, medicine, and public policy. The resulting workshop summary, Microbial Evolution and Co-Adaptation, demonstrates the extent to which conceptual and technological developments have, within a few short years, advanced our collective understanding of the microbiome, microbial genetics, microbial communities, and microbe-host-environment interactions.

The book will provide an overview of the advancement of fundamental knowledge and applications of antimicrobial peptides in biomedical, agricultural, veterinary, food, and cosmetic products. Antimicrobial peptides stand as potentially great alternatives to current antibiotics, and most research in this newly-created area has been published in journals and other periodicals. It is the editors’ opinion that it is timely to sum up the most important achievements in the field and provide the scientific community in a reference book. The goals of this project include illustrating the achievements made so far, debating the state of the art, and drawing new perspectives.

Describes the structure and function of important peptides from several different organisms. An exciting development is the use of these peptides or their analogues in the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. Considers ways in which these peptides may be used to control the insect vectors of key pathogens including the malarial parasite. Discusses the role of antimicrobial peptides in the mammalian immune system and their interaction with other components of that system.