Experimental evaluation of antimicrobial effects of the synthetic peptide on pathogenic bacteria

Antibiotics are common anti-infection drugs used these days. However, their excessive applications have led to the rising antibiotic resistance, a serious phenomenon in modern medicine that is regarded as one of the pre-eminent public health concerns of the 21st century. As a result, there is a growing need to find alternative drugs to eradicate the microbial resistance. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are natural defence molecules found in virtually all life forms. They are evolutionary conserved components of the innate immune defence. AMPs utilize different mechanisms of action for killing bacteria, which can vary depending on a type of particular bacterium. Generally, AMPs are broad-spectrum antibiotics that act not only against bacteria but also certain viruses and fungi. A number of studies suggested a possibility of using AMPs as an alternative therapy for treatment of microbial infections.