title: Strategies employed in the design and optimization of synthetic  antimicrobial peptide amphiphiles with enhanced  therapeutic potentials.
abstract: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) which predominantly act via membrane active mechanisms have emerged as an exciting class of antimicrobial agents with tremendous potential to overcome the global epidemic of antibiotics-resistant infections. The first generation of AMPs derived from natural sources as diverse as plants, insects and humans has provided a wealth of compositional and structural information to design novel synthetic AMPs with enhanced antimicrobial potencies and selectivities, reduced cost of production due to shorter sequences and improved stabilities under physiological conditions. In this review, we will first discuss the common strategies employed in the design and optimization of synthetic AMPs, followed by highlighting the various approaches utilized to enhance the therapeutic potentials of designed AMPs under physiological conditions. Lastly, future perspectives on the development of improved AMPs for therapeutic applications will be presented.
authors.forename: Zhan Yuin
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.forename: Nikken
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wiradharma
authors.forename: Yi Yan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015195:Drug Design; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D004355:Drug Stability; D006801:Humans; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D010455:Peptides