Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance

Antimicrobial Peptides

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), also called Host Defence Peptides (HDPs) are part of the innate immune response found among all classes of life. AMPs have a broad spectrum of targeted organisms ranging from viruses to parasites. These peptides are potent, broad spectrum antibiotics which demonstrate potential as novel therapeutic agents. Unlike the majority of conventional antibiotics it appears that antimicrobial peptides frequently destabilize biological membranes, can form transmembrane channels, and may also have the ability to enhance immunity by functioning as Immunomodulatory Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a class of small peptides that widely exist in nature and they are an important part of the innate immune system of different organisms. AMPs have a wide range of inhibitory effects against bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses.