2. Academic Validation
  3. Improving the biological activity of the antimicrobial peptide anoplin by membrane anchoring through a lipophilic amino acid derivative

Improving the biological activity of the antimicrobial peptide anoplin by membrane anchoring through a lipophilic amino acid derivative

  • Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2013 Jul 1;23(13):3749-52. doi: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2013.05.002.
Jack C Slootweg 1,  Timo B van Schaik,  H Linda C Quarles van Ufford,  Eefjan Breukink,  Rob M J Liskamp,  Dirk T S Rijkers
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80082, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands.
PMID: 23719232 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2013.05.002
Abstract

The lipophilic amino acid, (S)-2-aminoundecanoic acid, was synthesized and incorporated at a number of specific positions within the peptide sequence of anoplin. These lipophilic anoplin analogs showed to be more active against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus compared to native anoplin, while the EC50-value of hemolysis was at least one order of magnitude lower than the MIC values. This was in sharp contrast to the N-acylated anoplin derivative, where a gain in activity also led to a complete loss of selectivity. Thus, the incorporation of a lipophilic amino acid residue into anoplin enhanced the antimicrobial activity, while selectivity towards microbial membranes was retained.

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