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Defensins: The natural peptide antibiotic
- Source :
- Advanced drug delivery reviews. 179
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Defensins are a family of cationic antimicrobial peptides active against a broad range of infectious microbes including bacteria, viruses and fungi, playing important roles as innate effectors and immune modulators in immunological control of microbial infection. Their antibacterial properties and unique mechanisms of action have garnered considerable interest in developing defensins into a novel class of natural antibiotic peptides to fend off pathogenic infection by bacteria, particularly those resistant to conventional antibiotics. However, serious pharmacological and technical obstacles, some of which are unique to defensins and others are common to peptide drugs in general, have hindered the development and clinical translation of defensins as anti-infective therapeutics. To overcome them, several technologies have been developed, aiming for improved functionality, prolonged circulation time, enhanced proteolytic stability and bioavailability, and efficient and controlled delivery and release of defensins to the site of infection. Additional challenges include the alleviation of potential toxicity of defensins and their cost-effective manufacturing. In this review, we briefly introduce defensin biology, focus on various transforming strategies and practical techniques developed for defensins and their derivatives as antibacterial therapeutics, and conclude with a summation of future challenges and possible solutions.
- Subjects :
- chemistry.chemical_classification
integumentary system
biology
medicine.drug_class
Effector
fungi
Antibiotics
Antimicrobial peptides
Pharmaceutical Science
Peptide
Computational biology
respiratory system
biology.organism_classification
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Defensins
Immune Modulators
Drug Delivery Systems
chemistry
Anti-Infective Agents
Biomimetics
medicine
Humans
Defensin
Bacteria
Potential toxicity
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 18728294
- Volume :
- 179
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Advanced drug delivery reviews
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....dd5b7113078cdac4f4c87319a3004360