title: Why and how are peptide-lipid interactions utilized for self defence?
abstract: Animals defend themselves against invading pathogenic micro-organisms by utilizing cationic anti-microbial peptides, which rapidly kill various micro-organisms without exerting toxicity against the host. Physicochemical peptide-lipid interactions provide attractive mechanisms for innate immunity. Many of these peptides form amphipathic secondary structures (alpha-helices and beta-sheets) which can selectively interact with anionic bacterial membranes by electrostatic interaction. Rapid, peptide-induced membrane permeabilization is an effective mechanism of anti-microbial action. Magainin 2 from frog skin forms a dynamic peptide-lipid supramolecular-complex pore that allows mutually coupled transmembrane transport of ions and lipids. The peptide molecule is internalized upon the disintegration of the pore. Several anti-microbial peptides are known to work synergistically.
authors.affiliation: Kyoto University, Graduate School of Biostudies, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan. katsumim@pharm.kyoto-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuzaki
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability / Q000187:drug effects*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry*; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D010539:Permeability
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008055:Lipids; D010455:Peptides