Cationic antimicrobial peptides: from innate immunity study to drug development. Up date

Objective. - Host defense, cationic anti-microbial peptides are recognized as an important component of innate immune response in most multicellular organisms. Newfeatures. - These cationic amphipathic peptides include 20 to 50 amino acids and several hundreds of peptides have been identified. They have a broad spectrum activity against bacterial, fungal, and viral pathogens. The mode of action is best known for cecropins and magainins, which act on the cytoplasmic membrane of microorganisms, causing its disruption by a detergent-like activity and pore formation. Several of these peptides or analogs (from magainin, protegrin, indolicidin, and histatin) are under advanced clinical development, especially when used for localized infections. Projects and perspectives. - Several other molecules (rBPI, heliomicin, and thanatine) are currently under development for various systemic infections. These will probably be important drugs for future anti-infectious therapy. (C) 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tons droits reserves.