查看文章

Cell-penetrating and membrane-pore forming peptides are a class of membrane-active peptides. They are short sequence peptides having both hydrophilic and lipophilic combinations of amino acids. These peptides can have contrast functional diversity. Peptides encoded by viruses function as viroporins and play a critical role in viral replication, propagation, and pathogenesis. One such peptide is the Ebola virus delta peptide, which forms a pore in the host cell membrane. Another set of pore-forming peptides are antimicrobial Lantibiotic peptides that may be useful for killing antibiotic resistant bacteria by disrupting the bacterial membrane through two different possible mechanisms. Not only can they form pores that disrupt the bacterial membrane, Lantibiotics can also hinder the function of a bacterial membrane molecule, Lipid II, that is essential for cell wall biosynthesis.