From in vitro promise to in vivo reality: An instructive account of infection model evaluation of antimicrobial peptides

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are regarded as a promising alternative to traditional antibiotics in the face of ever-increasing resistance. However, many AMPs fail to progress into clinics due to unexpected difficulties found in preclinical in vivo phases. Our research has focused on crotalicidin (C...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Carrera-Aubesart, Adam, Li, Jiarui, Contreras, Estefanía, Bello Madruga, Roberto, Torrent Burgas, Marc, Andreu Martínez, David
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repositorio:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/68698
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/68698
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms25189773
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:AMPs
Crotalicidin
Infection
Murine model
Retroenantio
Topoisomers
Descripción
Sumario:Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are regarded as a promising alternative to traditional antibiotics in the face of ever-increasing resistance. However, many AMPs fail to progress into clinics due to unexpected difficulties found in preclinical in vivo phases. Our research has focused on crotalicidin (Ctn), an AMP from snake venom, and a fragment thereof, Ctn[15-34], with improved in vitro antimicrobial and anticancer activities and remarkable serum stability. As the retroenantio versions of both AMPs maintained favorable profiles, in this work, we evaluate the in vivo efficacy of both the native-sequence AMPs and their retroenantio counterparts in a murine infection model with Acinetobacter baumannii. A significant reduction in bacterial levels is found in the mice treated with Ctn[15-34]. However, contrary to expectations, the retroenantio analogs either exhibit toxicity or lack efficacy when administered to mice. Our findings underscore the critical importance of in vivo infection model evaluation to fully calibrate the therapeutic potential of AMPs.