The MICs of cationic, hydrophobic peptides of the prototypic sequence KKAAAXAAAAAXAAWAAXAAAKKKK-amide (where X is one of the 20 commonly occurring amino acids) are in a low micromolar range for a panel of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, with no or low hemolytic activity against human and rabbit erythrocytes. The peptides are active only when the average segmental hydrophobicity of the...

In a search for direct evidence leading to the biological relevance of airway secretions in innate host defense, we characterized the antibacterial function of cationic polypeptides within minimally manipulated nasal fluid. In this study, we show that cationic antimicrobial polypeptides are responsible for most of the bactericidal activity of whole nasal fluid. The removal of cationic polypepti...

A series of alpha-helical cationic antimicrobial peptide variants with small amino acid changes was designed. Alterations in the charge, hydrophobicity, or length of the variant peptides did not improve the antimicrobial activity, and there was no statistically significant correlation between any of these factors and the MIC for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, or Salmonella typhimuriu...

A series of a-helical cationic antimicrobial peptide variants with small amino acid changes was designed. Alterations in the charge, hydrophobicity, or length of the variant peptides did not improve the antimicrobial activity, and there was no statistically significant correlation between any of these factors and the MIC for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, or Salmonella typhimurium. I...

Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) synthesize various metabolites during their growth phase and are Generally Recognized as­­ Safe (GRAS) Qualified Presumption of Safety (QPS). Ribosomally synthesized Antimicrobial Peptides (AMP) or Bacteriocins from the genera other prokaryotic cationic, heat-stable, amphiphilic membrane permeabilizing peptides built with an excess amount lysyl arginyl residues. compo...