Creating Novel Antimicrobial Peptides

Abstract

As the threat of microbial resistance to antibiotics grows, we must turn in new directions to find new drugs effective against resistant infections. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and host-defense peptides (HDPs) are a class of natural products that have been well-studied towards this goal, though very few have found success clinically. However, as there is much known about the behavior of these peptides, work has been done to manipulate their sequences and structures in the search for more drug-like properties. Additionally, novel sequences and structures mimicking those seen in nature have been discovered and characterized. Herein, we demonstrate our ability to finely tune the antimicrobial activity of various peptides, such that they can be provided with more clinically desirable characteristics. Our results show that gramicidin A (gA) can be made to be less toxic via incorporation of unnatural cationic amino acids. This is achieved by synthesizing lysine analogues with diverse hydrophobic groups alkylated to the side-chain amine. Through exploring different groups, we achieved peptide structures with improved selectivity for bacterial over mammalian membranes. Additionally, we were able to achieve novel broad-spectrum gram-negative activity for gA peptides. In efforts to combat bacterial resistance to cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs), we have directed our reported amine-targeting iminoboronate chemistry towards neutralizing Lys-PG in bacterial membranes. Originally incorporating 2-APBA into gA, we found this to hinder the peptide’s activity. However, we were successful in increasing the potency of gA3R, a cationic mutant of gA, towards S. aureus by using a co-treatment of this peptide with a Lys-PG binding structure. Currently, we are exploring this strategy further. Finally, we describe our work towards establishing a novel cyclic peptide library incorporating a 2-APBA warhead for iminoboronate formation with a given target. In this, we have achieved intermolecular reduction of iminoboronates, strengthening the stringency of library screening. Although we were unsuccessful in finding a potent hit for binding of the lipid II stem peptide, screening against human transferrin yielded selective hits. Currently we are investigating these hits to understand their activity and therapeutic potential.