Structure-activity relationships of cecropin-like peptides and their interactions with phospholipid membrane

Cecropin A and papiliocin are novel 37-residue cecropin-like antimicrobial peptides isolated from insect. We have confirmed that papiliocin possess high bacterial cell selectivity and has an áhelical structure from Lys³ to Lys²¹ and from Ala²⁵ to Val³⁵, linked by a hinge region. In this study, we demonstrated that both peptides showed high antimicrobial activities against multi-drug resistant Gram negative bacteria as well as fungi. Interactions between these cecropin-like peptides and phospholipid membrane were studied using CD, dye leakage experiments, and NMR experiments, showing that both peptides have strong permeabilizing activities against bacterial cell membranes and fungal membranes as well as Trp² and Phe⁵ at the N-terminal helix play an important role in attracting cecropin-like peptides to the negatively charged bacterial cell membrane. Cecropin-like peptides can be potent peptide antibiotics against multi-drug resistant Gram negative bacteria and fungi.