Antimicrobial Peptides against Multidrug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm from Cystic Fibrosis Patients

Daniel Ben Hur, Gal Kapach, Naiem Ahmad Wani, Edo Kiper, Moshe Ashkenazi, Gill Smollan, Natan Keller, Ori Efrati, Yechiel Shai

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Lung infection is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and is mainly dominated by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Treatment of CF-associated lung infections is problematic because the drugs are vulnerable to multidrug-resistant pathogens, many of which are major biofilm producers like P. aeruginosa. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are essential components in all life forms and exhibit antimicrobial activity. Here we investigated a series of AMPs (d,l-K6L9), each composed of six lysines and nine leucines but differing in their sequence composed of l- and d-amino acids. The d,l-K6L9 peptides showed antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities against P. aeruginosa from CF patients. Furthermore, the data revealed that the d,l-K6L9 peptides are stable and resistant to degradation by CF sputum proteases and maintain their activity in a CF sputum environment. Additionally, the d,l-K6L9 peptides do not induce bacterial resistance. Overall, these findings should assist in the future development of alternative treatments against resistant bacterial biofilms.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)9050-9062
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Medicinal Chemistry
Volume65
Issue number13
Early online date27 Jun 2022
DOIs
StatePublished - 14 Jul 2022

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Drug Discovery
  • Molecular Medicine

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