Shagaghi Nadin, Palombo Enzo A, Clayton Andrew H A, Bhave Mrinal
Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, PO Box 218, Hawthorn, VIC, 3122, Australia.
World J Microbiol Biotechnol. 2016 Feb;32(2):31. doi: 10.1007/s11274-015-1986-z. Epub 2016 Jan 9.
Drug-resistant microorganisms ('superbugs') present a serious challenge to the success of antimicrobial treatments. Subsequently, there is a crucial need for novel bio-control agents. Many antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) show a broad-spectrum activity against bacteria, fungi or viruses and are strong candidates to complement or substitute current antimicrobial agents. Some AMPs are also effective against protozoa or cancer cells. The tryptophan (Trp)-rich peptides (TRPs) are a subset of AMPs that display potent antimicrobial activity, credited to the unique biochemical properties of tryptophan that allow it to insert into biological membranes. Further, many Trp-rich AMPs cross bacterial membranes without compromising their integrity and act intracellularly, suggesting interactions with nucleic acids and enzymes. In this work, we overview some archetypal TRPs derived from natural sources, i.e., indolicidin, tritrpticin and lactoferricin, summarising their biochemical properties, structures, antimicrobial activities, mechanistic studies and potential applications.
耐药微生物（“超级细菌”）对抗菌治疗的成功构成了严峻挑战。因此，迫切需要新型生物控制剂。许多抗菌肽（AMPs）对细菌、真菌或病毒具有广谱活性，是补充或替代现有抗菌剂的有力候选者。一些抗菌肽对原生动物或癌细胞也有效。富含色氨酸（Trp）的肽（TRPs）是抗菌肽的一个子集，具有强大的抗菌活性，这归功于色氨酸独特的生化特性，使其能够插入生物膜。此外，许多富含色氨酸的抗菌肽穿过细菌膜而不损害其完整性，并在细胞内发挥作用，表明它们与核酸和酶相互作用。在这项工作中，我们概述了一些源自天然来源的典型TRPs，即吲哚杀菌素、三肽色氨酸和乳铁蛋白，总结了它们的生化特性、结构、抗菌活性、作用机制研究和潜在应用。
