Antimicrobial peptides: natural or synthetic defense peptides against HBV and HCV infections

• Published in: Virusdisease 2022-12, Vol.33 (4), p.445-455
• Main Authors: Keikha, Masoud, Kamali, Hossein, Ghazvini, Kiarash, Karbalaei, Mohsen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adjuvants; Antimicrobial peptides; Antiviral activity; Antiviral agents; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Casein; cathelicidins; Cell Biology; Cell lines; Defensins; Drug resistance; Hepatocytes; Hepcidin; humans; hydrophilicity; Hydrophobicity; Immune response; immune system; Immunosuppressive agents; Intracellular; Kinases; Lactoferrin; Life Sciences; Liver cancer; Microbiology; Packaging; Protein Structure; Resistant mutant; Review; Review Article; scorpion venoms; Synthetic peptides; therapeutics; Toxicity; Venom; virus replication; Viruses; water solubility
• ISSN: 2347-3584; 2347-3517
• DOI: 10.1007/s13337-022-00790-y

According to the literature, treatment of HCV and HBV infections faces challenges due to problems such as the emergence of drug-resistant mutants, the high cost of treatment, and the side effects of current antiviral therapy. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), a group of small peptides, are a part of the immune system and are considered as an alternative treatment for microbial infections. These peptides are water-soluble with amphiphilic (hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces) characteristics. AMPs are produced by a wide range of organisms including both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. The antiviral mechanisms of AMPs include inhibiting virus entry, inhibiting intracellular virus replication, inhibiting intracellular viral packaging, and inducing immune responses. In addition, AMPs are a new generation of antiviral biomolecules that have very low toxicity for human host cells, particularly liver cell lines. AMPs can be considered as one of the most important strategies for developing new adjuvant drugs in the treatment of HBV and HCV infections. In the present study, several groups of AMPs (with a net positive charge) such as Human cathelicidin, Claudin-1, Defensins, Hepcidin, Lactoferrin, Casein, Plectasin, Micrococcin P1, Scorpion venom, and Synthetic peptides were reviewed with antiviral properties against HBV and HCV.