title: Novel synthetic antimicrobial peptides against Streptococcus mutans.
abstract: Streptococcus mutans, a common oral pathogen and the causative agent of dental caries, has persisted and even thrived on the tooth surface despite constant removal and eradication efforts. In this study, we generated a number of synthetic antimicrobial peptides against this bacterium via construction and screening of several structurally diverse peptide libraries where the hydrophobicity and charge within each library was varied incrementally in order to generate a collection of peptides with different biochemical characteristics. From these libraries, we identified multiple peptides with robust killing activity against S. mutans. To further improve their effectiveness, the most bactericidal peptides from each library were synthesized together as one molecule, in various combinations, with and without a flexible peptide linker between each antimicrobial region. Many of these "fusion" peptides had enhanced killing activities in comparison with those of the original nonconjoined molecules. The results presented here illustrate that small libraries of biochemically constrained peptides can be used to generate antimicrobial peptides against S. mutans, several of which may be likely candidates for the development of anticaries agents.
authors.affiliation: UCLA School of Dentistry, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1668, USA.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Randal
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Eckert
authors.forename: Thanh
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pharm
authors.forename: Maurice D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Simanian
authors.forename: Chuhong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Daniel K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Yarbrough
authors.forename: Fengxia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Maxwell H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Wenyuan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D009055:Mouth / Q000382:microbiology; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D010455:Peptides