The
emergence of multidrug-resistant microorganisms has been termed
one of the most common global health threats, emphasizing the discovery
of new antibacterial agents. To address this issue, we engineered
peptides harboring “RWWWR” as a central motif plus arginine
(R) end-tagging and then tested them in vitro and in vivo. Our results demonstrate that Pep 6, one of the
engineered peptides, shows great potential in combating Escherichia coli bacteremia and the Staphylococcus aureus skin burn infection model,
which induces a 62–90% reduction in bacterial burden. Remarkably,
after long serial passages of S. aureus and E. coli for 30 days, Pep 6 is
still highly efficient in killing pathogens, compared with 64- and
128-fold increase in minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for
vancomycin and polymyxin B, respectively. We also found that Pep 6
exhibited robust biofilm-inhibiting activity and eliminated 61.33%
of the mature methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus (MRSA) biofilm with concentration in the MIC
level. These results suggest that the RWWWR motif and binding of arginine
end-tagging could be harnessed as a new agent for combating multidrug-resistant
bacteria.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.