title: Boosting salt resistance of short antimicrobial peptides.
abstract: The efficacies of many antimicrobial peptides are greatly reduced under high salt concentrations, therefore limiting their use as pharmaceutical agents. Here, we describe a strategy to boost salt resistance and serum stability of short antimicrobial peptides by adding the nonnatural bulky amino acid β-naphthylalanine to their termini. The activities of the short salt-sensitive tryptophan-rich peptide S1 were diminished at high salt concentrations, whereas the activities of its β-naphthylalanine end-tagged variants were less affected.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biotechnology and Department of Medical Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hung-Lun
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Hui-Yuan
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Bak-Sau
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Yip
authors.forename: Ya-Han
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chih
authors.forename: Chong-Wen
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Hsi-Tsung
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Jya-Wei
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000667:Ampicillin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004355:Drug Stability; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects; D006461:Hemolysis; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D044967:Serum / Q000737:chemistry; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000737:chemistry*; D014364:Tryptophan / Q000737:chemistry; D015091:beta-Alanine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D010455:Peptides; D015091:beta-Alanine; D012965:Sodium Chloride; C063914:beta-naphthylalanine; D000667:Ampicillin; D014364:Tryptophan