Kawsar Md Abu, Zhao Chengqing, Mao Fan, Yu Ziniu, Zhang Yang
State Key Laboratory of Breeding Biotechnology and Sustainable Aquaculture, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Antibiotics (Basel). 2025 Sep 12;14(9):924. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics14090924.
Unlike other animals, marine invertebrates lack an adaptive immune system and instead rely on innate immunity as their first line of defense. A key component of this innate response is the production of biologically active molecules, particularly antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which offer promising solutions to the escalating global crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This review comprehensively examines the sources, structural diversity, mechanisms of action, biological functions, and therapeutic potential of AMPs derived from a wide range of marine invertebrate phyla. These evolutionarily conserved peptides exhibit broad-spectrum antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antiparasitic, and even anticancer activities. The review also summarizes strategies for AMP isolation and production, ranging from natural extraction to recombinant expression and chemical synthesis, and outlines their potential biotechnological applications. Furthermore, we highlight the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) in accelerating AMP discovery, design, and production, including predictive modeling, de novo peptide generation, and optimization workflows. Despite significant progress, challenges remain in large-scale production, pharmacokinetic characterization, and functional validation. Addressing these gaps through integrative omics, structural biology, and AI-driven innovation will be crucial for unlocking the full therapeutic potential of marine invertebrate AMPs in combating infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance.
与其他动物不同，海洋无脊椎动物缺乏适应性免疫系统，而是依靠先天免疫作为其第一道防线。这种先天反应的一个关键组成部分是生物活性分子的产生，特别是抗菌肽（AMPs），它们为日益严重的全球抗菌药物耐药性（AMR）危机提供了有前景的解决方案。本综述全面研究了来自广泛海洋无脊椎动物门类的抗菌肽的来源、结构多样性、作用机制、生物学功能和治疗潜力。这些进化上保守的肽具有广谱抗菌、抗真菌、抗病毒、抗寄生虫甚至抗癌活性。综述还总结了抗菌肽的分离和生产策略，从天然提取到重组表达和化学合成，并概述了它们潜在的生物技术应用。此外，我们强调了人工智能（AI）在加速抗菌肽发现、设计和生产方面的变革性作用，包括预测建模、从头肽生成和优化工作流程。尽管取得了重大进展，但在大规模生产、药代动力学表征和功能验证方面仍存在挑战。通过整合组学、结构生物学和人工智能驱动的创新来解决这些差距，对于释放海洋无脊椎动物抗菌肽在对抗传染病和抗菌药物耐药性方面的全部治疗潜力至关重要。
