NMR techniques for investigating antimicrobial peptides in model membranes and bacterial cells

• Published in: Methods (San Diego, Calif.) Calif.), 2024-04, Vol.224, p.10-20
• Main Authors: Sani, Marc-Antoine, Rajput, Sunnia, Keizer, David W., Separovic, Frances
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides - analysis; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides - chemistry; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides - pharmacology; Antimicrobial Peptides; Cell Membrane - chemistry; Dynamic nuclear polarization; Host defense peptides; in-cell NMR; Lipid membranes; lipids; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy - methods; mechanism of action; NMR spectroscopy; therapeutics
• ISSN: 1046-2023; 1095-9130; 1095-9130
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2024.01.012

•NMR methodologies described for study of antimicrobial peptides in lipid environments.•Review of advances in NMR technology to perform in-cell structural studies.•Discuss key structural features in peptide-lipid interactions and impact on mode of action.•New intracellular targets identified from in-cell NMR studies. AMPs are short, mainly cationic membrane-active peptides found in all living organism. They perform diverse roles including signaling and acting as a line of defense against bacterial infections. AMPs have been extensively investigated as templates to facilitate the development of novel antimicrobial therapeutics. Understanding the interplay between these membrane-active peptides and the lipid membranes is considered to be a significant step in elucidating the specific mechanism of action of AMPs against prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells to aid the development of new therapeutics. In this review, we have provided a brief overview of various NMR techniques commonly used for studying AMP structure and AMP-membrane interactions in model membranes and whole cells.