Development of Antimicrobial Peptides from Amphibian, 2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) represent an interesting class of molecules for the development of new antimicrobial therapeutics to fight multidrug resistant infections, with their unique modes of action, which are generally based on the perturbation of the target microbial membrane.

Although many AMPs have reached clinical trials, not many have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) due to concerns associated with toxicity, proteases cleavage, and short half-life. Nowadays, thanks to the progress in computational, biochemical, and nanotechnologies studies, different approaches have been developed to ameliorate the biological properties of AMPs.

Since 1987, when Michael Zasloff isolated magainins from the skin secretions of the African toad Xenopus laevis, an increasing number of AMPs has been identified in different anuran species and studied in detail. As a result, frog skin is one of the richest sources of natural AMPs from different families.

The first edition of the Special Issue “Development of Antimicrobial Peptides from Amphibian” was published in 2020. It is a successful collection with 10 excellent papers and has encouraged us to open a second edition with the same topic.

As a continuation of the first Special Issue, this second edition aims to present the most recent advances in the development of natural and synthesized frog skin-derived AMPs and their synergistic combination among different classes of natural antibiotics to counteract drug-resistant pathogens.

Recent advances and developments in antimicrobial research that could increase knowledge on the structure, function, and especially mechanism of action of frog skin-derived AMPs when used alone or in combination with other antimicrobial molecules for the development of new anti-infective drugs are welcome.

Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

•     Frog skin-derived antimicrobial peptides;
•     Natural and synthetic AMPs;
•     The synergy of AMPs;
•     Insights into the mechanism(s) of action of AMPs;
•     Drug delivery system.

Prof. Dr. Maria Luisa Mangoni
Dr. Bruno Casciaro
Dr. Maria Rosa Loffredo
Guest Editors

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• frog skin-derived antimicrobial peptides
• natural and synthetic AMPs
• the synergy of AMPs
• insights into the mechanism(s) of action of AMPs
• drug delivery system

• Development of Antimicrobial Peptides from Amphibian in Antibiotics (10 articles)