Interaction of antimicrobial peptides with model membranes: a perspective towards new antibiotics.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), found in both animals and plants, are used to fend off a wide variety of invading pathogens, such as bacteria, fungi, protozoa, viruses, etc. Their widespread distribution and defensive activity towards all different microbes lead to the successful evolution of complex multicellular organisms. In particular, AMPs target bacterial membranes and disrupt the membrane via the formation of transmembrane pores without interacting with any specific receptors. It is known that different antimicrobial peptides use different mechanisms to disrupt the membrane by forming transmembrane pores. The interaction of the antimicrobial peptide with the membrane depends on peptide charge, hydrophobicity, membrane composition, etc. Therefore, to get insights into the mechanisms of membrane disruption, it is useful to study the model membrane, as biological membranes are complex and regulated by various other proteins, cholesterol, etc. In the present review, we will primarily describe the interaction of antimicrobial peptides with phospholipid membranes, which mimic the bacterial membrane, in view of understanding the mechanism of action, various factors affecting their activity, application prospects in drug therapeutics, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]