title: Antimicrobial peptides: their role as infection-selective tracers for molecular imaging.
abstract: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a heterogeneous class of compounds found in a variety of organisms including humans and, so far, hundreds of these structures have been isolated and characterised. They can be described as natural microbicide, selectively cytotoxic to bacteria, whilst showing minimal cytotoxicity towards the mammalian cells of the host organism. They act by their relatively strong electrostatic attraction to the negatively charged bacterial cells and a relatively weak interaction to the eukaryote host cells. The ability of these peptides to accumulate at sites of infection combined with the minimal host's cytotoxicity motivated for this review to highlight the role and the usefulness of AMPs for PET with emphasis on their mechanism of action and the different interactions with the bacterial cell. These details are key information for their selective properties. We also describe the strategy, design, and utilization of these peptides as potential radiopharmaceuticals as their combination with nuclear medicine modalities such as SPECT or PET would allow noninvasive whole-body examination for detection of occult infection causing, for example, fever of unknown origin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Pretoria & Steve Biko Academic Hospital, Corner of Malherbe and Steve Biko Road, Pretoria 0001, South Africa ; Catalysis and Peptide Research Unit, School of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu Natal, E-Block 6th Floor, Westville Campus, University Road, Westville, Durban 3630, South Africa.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ebenhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Campus Gasthuisberg, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gheysens
authors.affiliation: Catalysis and Peptide Research Unit, School of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu Natal, E-Block 6th Floor, Westville Campus, University Road, Westville, Durban 3630, South Africa.
authors.forename: Hendrick Gert
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Kruger
authors.affiliation: Department of Science and Technology, Preclinical Drug Development Platform, North West University, 11 Hoffman Street, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa.
authors.forename: Jan Rijn
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Zeevaart
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Pretoria & Steve Biko Academic Hospital, Corner of Malherbe and Steve Biko Road, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
authors.forename: Mike Machaba
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Sathekge
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D057054:Molecular Imaging; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals