title: Pro-moieties of antimicrobial peptide prodrugs.
abstract: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a promising class of antimicrobial agents that have been garnering increasing attention as resistance renders many conventional antibiotics ineffective. Extensive research has resulted in a large library of highly-active AMPs. However, several issues serve as an impediment to their clinical development, not least the issue of host toxicity. An approach that may allow otherwise cytotoxic AMPs to be used is to deliver them as a prodrug, targeting antimicrobial activity and limiting toxic effects on the host. The varied library of AMPs is complemented by a selection of different possible pro-moieties, each with their own characteristics. This review deals with the different pro-moieties that have been used with AMPs and discusses the merits of each.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 9, Ireland. eannaforde@rcsi.ie.
authors.forename: Eanna
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Forde
authors.affiliation: Centre for Synthesis and Chemical Biology, Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, 123 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland. marcdevocelle@rcsi.ie.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Devocelle
mesh_terms: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D011355:Prodrugs / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D010455:Peptides; D011355:Prodrugs