Three-Dimensional Structure of the Antimicrobial Peptide Cecropin P1 in Dodecylphosphocholine Micelles and the Role of the C-Terminal Residues

Assessing the Interaction between Dodecylphosphocholine and Dodecylmaltoside Mixed Micelles as Drug Carriers with Lipid Membrane: A Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Integrating drugs into cellular membranes efficiently is a significant challenge in drug delivery systems. This study aimed to overcome these barriers by utilizing mixed micelles to enhance drug incorporation into cell membranes. We employed coarse-grained molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the stability and efficacy of micelles composed of dodecylphosphocholine (DPC), a zwitterionic surfactant, and dodecylmaltoside (DDM), a nonionic surfactant, at various mixing ratios. Additionally, we examined the incorporation of a mutated form of Indolicidin (IND) (CP10A), an anti-HIV peptide, into these micelles. This study provides valuable insights for the development of more effective drug delivery systems by optimizing the mixing ratios of DPC and DDM. By balancing stability and penetration efficiency, these mixed micelles can improve the delivery of drugs that face challenges crossing lipid membranes. Such advancements can enhance the efficacy of treatments for various conditions, including viral infections and cancer, by ensuring that therapeutic agents reach their intended cellular targets more effectively.

Cell-Free Systems: Ideal Platforms for Accelerating the Discovery and Production of Peptide-Based Antibiotics

Peptide-based antibiotics (PBAs), including antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and their synthetic mimics, have received significant interest due to their diverse and unique bioactivities. The integration of high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics tools has dramatically enhanced the discovery of enzymes, allowing researchers to identify specific genes and metabolic pathways responsible for producing novel PBAs more precisely. Cell-free systems (CFSs) that allow precise control over transcription and translation in vitro are being adapted, which accelerate the identification, characterization, selection, and production of novel PBAs. Furthermore, these platforms offer an ideal solution for overcoming the limitations of small-molecule antibiotics, which often lack efficacy against a broad spectrum of pathogens and contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance. In this review, we highlight recent examples of how CFSs streamline these processes while expanding our ability to access new antimicrobial agents that are effective against antibiotic-resistant infections.

Recent Advances on Peptide-Based Biosensors and Electronic Noses for Foodborne Pathogen Detection

Foodborne pathogens present a serious issue around the world due to the remarkably high number of illnesses they cause every year. In an effort to narrow the gap between monitoring needs and currently implemented classical detection methodologies, the last decades have seen an increased development of highly accurate and reliable biosensors. Peptides as recognition biomolecules have been explored to develop biosensors that combine simple sample preparation and enhanced detection of bacterial pathogens in food. This review first focuses on the selection strategies for the design and screening of sensitive peptide bioreceptors, such as the isolation of natural antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) from living organisms, the screening of peptides by phage display and the use of in silico tools. Subsequently, an overview on the state-of-the-art techniques in the development of peptide-based biosensors for foodborne pathogen detection based on various transduction systems was given. Additionally, limitations in classical detection strategies have led to the development of innovative approaches for food monitoring, such as electronic noses, as promising alternatives. The use of peptide receptors in electronic noses is a growing field and the recent advances of such systems for foodborne pathogen detection are presented. All these biosensors and electronic noses are promising alternatives for the pathogen detection with high sensitivity, low cost and rapid response, and some of them are potential portable devices for on-site analyses.