Insights on Antimicrobial Peptides

Abstract

She completed her post-doctoral studies in the United States and Japan. Dr. Enany was one of the first Arab scientists to apply bacterial proteomic techniques to reveal good markers for microbes spreading in the community. She has received many awards for her scientific contributions, including the 2021 International Science Council Award for Early Career Scientist in Africa, the 2019 Egyptian state encouragement prize for women in the field of health and pharmaceutical sciences, and the 2018 World Academy of Sciences Young Arab Scientist Prize in Medical Sciences. PrefaceMicroorganisms are ubiquitous and play an important but "bifacial" role in the existence of plants, animals, and humans. Some microorganisms are necessary for maintaining vital functions but may play a negative role and lead to infectious diseases and even death. Thus, all existing species must protect themselves from excess colonization of microorganisms that can cause infection and death. The immune system defends the organism against different types of infections. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are an important part of the innate immune system of different organisms living in nature. Unfortunately, the immune system cannot always defeat the infection. Infectious diseases were an enormous problem in the past. Before the discovery of antibiotics, extracts of herbs and plants and chemical compounds were used as therapies for infectious diseases. Everything changed with the discovery of penicillin, which marked the start of the "antibiotic era." Antibiotics were determined to be "miracle drugs" and intensively used in medicine for the successful treatment of bacterial infection. However, this intensive usage in human and veterinary medicine, sometimes as a preventive step, has led to drug resistance.Microorganisms are good at adapting to different stress conditions and have different mechanisms of antibiotic resistance such as alteration of membrane permeability, enzymatic degradation of antibiotics, modification of bacterial proteins that are antimicrobial targets, and active efflux. Modern medicine is impossible without antibiotics, but conclusions of the "antibiotic era" aren't optimistic. Global antibiotic usage led to the development of superbugs, and the number of resistant bacteria and multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria is rapidly increasing. As such, we still have problems with infectious disease treatment despite an arsenal of antibiotics, many of which have become ineffective against modern (resistant) microorganisms.Another problem with modern antibacterial treatment is that we currently use antibiotics discovered more than three decades ago. A new antibiotic is necessary, but unfortunately, the development of new antibiotics is costly, takes years, and is an unprofitable process for pharmaceutical companies. This book presents a comprehensive overview of AMPs with potential for medical use. The AMPs described are isolated from different sources, such as ascidians, cyanobacteria, frogs, and more.Chapter by Rajesh and Vanathi describes t...

Understanding the Role of Antimicrobial Peptides in Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Promoting Autoimmune Disorders

“…Plants and invertebrates do not have adaptive immunity; therefore, as part of innate immunity AMPs protect them from harmful microbes. In invertebrates, it Life 2023, 13, 1307 2 of 22 has been seen that AMPs are expressed constitutively [6]. Tachyplesin and polyphemus (β-sheet AMPs) isolated from horseshoe crabs have shown antibacterial and antifungal activity.…”