Deciphering the therapeutic code of cationic peptides for the treatment of cancer and infections associated with antibiotic resistant bacteria.In the United States, there is an increasing prevalence of drug-resistant cancers and infections, which contributes to relapse after apparent remission. This situation highlights the need for further research and development to counteract this surge. Although current treatments include natural antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), they pose several challenges for clinical applications, notably lack of in vivo efficacy and potential toxicity to mammalian cells. University of Pittsburgh researchers have developed a better option: a new class of cationic peptides that yield dozens of therapeutics in vivo efficacy. The invention transcends the discovery of a particular drug and will result in almost infinite possibilities for enhanced therapeutics.
Xiang, W., Clemenza, P., Klousnitzer, J., Chen, J., Qin, W., Tristram-Nagle, S., Doi, Y., Di, Y. P., & Deslouches, B. (2022). Rational Framework for the Design of Trp- and Arg-Rich Peptide Antibiotics Against Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria. Frontiers in Microbiology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.889791