Peptides with Dual Antimicrobial and Anticancer Activities

Abstract

In recent years, the number of people suffering from cancer and multi-resistant infections has increased, such that both diseases are already seen as current and future major causes of death. Moreover, chronic infections are one of the main causes of cancer, due to the instability in the immune system that allows cancer cells to proliferate. Likewise, the physical debility associated with cancer or with anticancer therapy itself often paves the way for opportunistic infections. It is urgent to develop new therapeutic methods, with higher efficiency and lower side effects. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are found in the innate immune system of a wide range of organisms. Identified as the most promising alternative to conventional molecules used nowadays against infections, some of them have been shown to have dual activity, both as antimicrobial and anticancer peptides (ACPs). Highly cationic and amphipathic, they have demonstrated efficacy against both conditions, with the number of nature-driven or synthetically designed peptides increasing year by year. With similar properties, AMPs that can also act as ACPs are viewed as future chemotherapeutic drugs, with the advantage of low propensity to resistance, which started this paradigm in the pharmaceutical market. These peptides have already been described as molecules presenting killing mechanisms at the membrane level, but also acting toward intracellular targets, which increases their success compartively to one-target specific drugs. This review will approach the desirable characteristics of small peptides that demonstrated dual activity against microbial infections and cancer, as well as the peptides engaged in clinical trials.

Cowpea: an overview on its nutritional facts and health benefits

“…40,41 The ability of these peptides to create favorable physiological conditions for proper bodily functions renders them 'bioactive'. For example, peptides which are labeled as functional or biologically-active are reported to show anti-hypertensive, 42 anti-dyslipidemic, 43 antioxidative, 41 anti-carcinogenic, 44 anti-diabetic 27 and antimicrobial properties. 27 Peptides usually composed of 3 to 20 amino acid residues are released as a result of enzymatic proteolysis of various animal and plant proteins.…”

Nuclear magnetic resonance solution structure of Pisum sativum defensin 2 provides evidence for the presence of hydrophobic surface‐clusters

“…Plant defensins (PDs) are small antimicrobial proteins, which are largely produced by plants as part of their innate immunity . The structures of PDs show a common cysteine stabilized‐αβ‐fold (CSαβ‐fold), characterized by one α‐helix and three antiparallel β‐sheets .…”

Natural Antifungal Peptides/Proteins as Model for Novel Food Preservatives

“…Antimicrobial peptides are small, mostly cationic, peptides widespread within the immune system of the different prokaryotic and eukaryotic kingdoms (Adem Bahar & Ren, 2013;Beisswenger & Bals, 2005;Hassan, Kjos, Nes, Diep, & Lotfipour, 2012;Wiesner & Vilcinskas, 2010). These molecules have been the focus of recent reviews, especially their antimicrobial action (Jenssen, Hamill, & Hancock, 2006;Siedler, Balti, & Neves, 2019;Wiesner & Vilcinskas, 2010), their involvement in inflammatory diseases (Arias et al, 2017;Felício, Silva, Gonçalves, Santos, & Franco, 2017), and their immunomodulatory activity (Hancock, Haney, & Gill, 2016). The term AMP is commonly used to design antimicrobial peptides, for example, comprising less than 100 amino acids.…”