The antimicrobial peptide ZY4 combats multidrug-resistant <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> and <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i> infection.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31843919.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.1909585117 and PMC identifier 6936460.
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Abstract
The emergence of carbapenem-resistant <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i> and <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> raises fears of untreatable infections and poses the greatest health threats. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are regarded as the most ideal solution to this menace. In this study, a set of peptides was designed based on our previously reported peptide cathelicidin-BF-15, and the lead peptide ZY4, a cyclic peptide stabilized by a disulfide bridge with high stability in vivo (the half-life is 1.8 h), showed excellent activity against <i>P. aeruginosa</i> and <i>A. baumannii</i>, including standard and clinical multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains. ZY4 killed bacteria by permeabilizing the bacterial membrane and showed low propensity to induce resistance, exhibited biofilm inhibition and eradication activities, and also killed persister cells. Notably, administration of ZY4 decreased susceptibility to lung infection by <i>P. aeruginosa</i> and suppressed dissemination of <i>P. aeruginosa</i> and <i>A. baumannii</i> to target organs in a mouse septicemia infection model. These findings identify ZY4 as an ideal candidate against MDR bacterial infections.