Detecting the Mechanism of Action of Antimicrobial Peptides by Using Microscopic Detection Techniques

Increasing antibiotic resistance has shifted researchers’ focus to antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) as alternatives to antibiotics. AMPs are small, positively charged, amphipathic peptides with secondary helical structures. They have the ability to disrupt the bacterial membrane and create wedges due to electrostatic differences. Water molecules enter the pathogens through those wedges and disrupt their normal cellular functioning, eventually causing the death of the pathogens. Keeping in mind the importance of AMPs, this review compiles recent data and is divided into three parts. The first part explains the AMP structure and properties, the second part comprises the spectroscopy techniques currently used for evaluating the AMP-bacterial targeting mechanism as well as its structure and safety; and the third part describes the production of AMPs from an animal source (whey protein). Most of the peptides that were used in recent studies have been either the precursors of a natural peptide or synthetic peptides with some modifications, but data on the exploitation of dairy protein are scarce. Among the little-studied milk proteins and peptides, in the last three years, whey protein has been studied the least based on the reported data. Because whey protein is a leftover part of cheese making that often drains out as cheese waste, causing soil and environmental pollution, today, the need of the hour is to produce safe AMPs from whey protein. The use of whey protein that is based on hydrolyzing lactic acid bacteria with some structural modifications can increase AMPs’ potency, stability, and safety, and it can also help to avoid soil and environmental pollution as a result of whey drainage.