Harnessing advanced computational approaches to design novel antimicrobial peptides against intracellular bacterial infections.

Journal: Bioactive materials
Published Date:

Abstract

Intracellular bacterial infections pose a significant challenge to current therapeutic strategies due to the limited penetration of antibiotics through host cell membranes. This study presents a novel computational framework for efficiently screening candidate peptides against these infections. The proposed strategy comprehensively evaluates the essential properties for the clinical application of candidate peptides, including antimicrobial activity, permeation efficiency, and biocompatibility, while also taking into account the speed and reliability of the screening process. A combination of multiple AI-based activity prediction models allows for a thorough assessment of sequences in the cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) database and quickly identifies candidate peptides with target properties. On this basis, the CPP microscopic dynamics research system was constructed. Exploration of the mechanism of action at the atomic level provides strong support for the discovery of promising candidate peptides. Promising candidates are subsequently validated through and experiments. Finally, Crot-1 was rapidly identified from the CPPsite 2.0 database. effectively eradicated intracellular MRSA, demonstrating significantly greater efficacy than vancomycin. Moreover, it exhibited no apparent cytotoxicity to host cells, highlighting its potential for clinical application. This work offers a promising new avenue for developing novel antimicrobial materials to combat intracellular bacterial infections.

Authors

  • Yanpeng Fang
    Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha 410083, P. R. China. jiedong@csu.edu.cn.
  • Duoyang Fan
    Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha 410083, PR China.
  • Bin Feng
    Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
  • Yingli Zhu
    School of Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China.
  • Ruyan Xie
    Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha 410083, PR China.
  • Xiaorong Tan
    Biotherapeutics Discovery Research Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.
  • Qianhui Liu
  • Jie Dong
    Department of Urology, Eastern Theater Command General Hospital, Nanjing,Jiangsu 210002, Chinia.
  • Wenbin Zeng
    Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, 410004, PR China.

Keywords

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