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Insights into the Antimicrobial Properties of Hepcidins: Advantages and Drawbacks as Potential Therapeutic Agents
The increasing frequency of multi-drug resistant microorganisms has driven research into alternative therapeutic strategies. In this respect, natural antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) hold much promise as candidates for the development of novel antibiotics. However, AMPs have some intrinsic drawbacks, s...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2015
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6272296/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25867823 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules20046319 |
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author | Lombardi, Lisa Maisetta, Giuseppantonio Batoni, Giovanna Tavanti, Arianna |
author_facet | Lombardi, Lisa Maisetta, Giuseppantonio Batoni, Giovanna Tavanti, Arianna |
author_sort | Lombardi, Lisa |
collection | PubMed |
description | The increasing frequency of multi-drug resistant microorganisms has driven research into alternative therapeutic strategies. In this respect, natural antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) hold much promise as candidates for the development of novel antibiotics. However, AMPs have some intrinsic drawbacks, such as partial degradation by host proteases or inhibition by host body fluid composition, potential toxicity, and high production costs. This review focuses on the hepcidins, which are peptides produced by the human liver with a known role in iron homeostasis, as well by numerous other organisms (including fish, reptiles, other mammals), and their potential as antibacterial and antifungal agents. Interestingly, the antimicrobial properties of human hepcidins are enhanced at acidic pH, rendering these peptides appealing for the design of new drugs targeting infections that occur in body areas with acidic physiological pH. This review not only considers current research on the direct killing activity of these peptides, but evaluates the potential application of these molecules as coating agents preventing biofilm formation and critically assesses technical obstacles preventing their therapeutic application. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6272296 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2015 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-62722962018-12-03 Insights into the Antimicrobial Properties of Hepcidins: Advantages and Drawbacks as Potential Therapeutic Agents Lombardi, Lisa Maisetta, Giuseppantonio Batoni, Giovanna Tavanti, Arianna Molecules Review The increasing frequency of multi-drug resistant microorganisms has driven research into alternative therapeutic strategies. In this respect, natural antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) hold much promise as candidates for the development of novel antibiotics. However, AMPs have some intrinsic drawbacks, such as partial degradation by host proteases or inhibition by host body fluid composition, potential toxicity, and high production costs. This review focuses on the hepcidins, which are peptides produced by the human liver with a known role in iron homeostasis, as well by numerous other organisms (including fish, reptiles, other mammals), and their potential as antibacterial and antifungal agents. Interestingly, the antimicrobial properties of human hepcidins are enhanced at acidic pH, rendering these peptides appealing for the design of new drugs targeting infections that occur in body areas with acidic physiological pH. This review not only considers current research on the direct killing activity of these peptides, but evaluates the potential application of these molecules as coating agents preventing biofilm formation and critically assesses technical obstacles preventing their therapeutic application. MDPI 2015-04-10 /pmc/articles/PMC6272296/ /pubmed/25867823 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules20046319 Text en © 2015 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Review Lombardi, Lisa Maisetta, Giuseppantonio Batoni, Giovanna Tavanti, Arianna Insights into the Antimicrobial Properties of Hepcidins: Advantages and Drawbacks as Potential Therapeutic Agents |
title | Insights into the Antimicrobial Properties of Hepcidins: Advantages and Drawbacks as Potential Therapeutic Agents |
title_full | Insights into the Antimicrobial Properties of Hepcidins: Advantages and Drawbacks as Potential Therapeutic Agents |
title_fullStr | Insights into the Antimicrobial Properties of Hepcidins: Advantages and Drawbacks as Potential Therapeutic Agents |
title_full_unstemmed | Insights into the Antimicrobial Properties of Hepcidins: Advantages and Drawbacks as Potential Therapeutic Agents |
title_short | Insights into the Antimicrobial Properties of Hepcidins: Advantages and Drawbacks as Potential Therapeutic Agents |
title_sort | insights into the antimicrobial properties of hepcidins: advantages and drawbacks as potential therapeutic agents |
topic | Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6272296/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25867823 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules20046319 |
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