WHAT ARE ANTIMICROBIAL PEPTIDES ?
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are defense proteins secreted by the human cells in response to bacterial infections. These host natural antibiotic peptides are efficient against a broad-spectrum of pathogens. Antimicrobial peptides have several advantages over current antibiotic drugs:
- AMPs have a different mode of action and pharmacodynamics than antibiotics, lowering the risk of resistance development.
- AMPs are able to target specific bacteria, reducing the likelihood of harming beneficial body microbiota.
- AMPs are effective against antimicrobial resistant bacteria, providing an alternative or complementary approach to antibiotics.
Objectives
- To evaluate the potential for resistance development to human antimicrobial peptides in antibiotic resistant bacteria.
- To identify new molecules from the marine microbiome boosting antimicrobial peptide expression without triggering inflammation.
- To characterize AMP-inducer molecules in a pipeline for enabling expedient validation of the molecules in human intestinal cells and organoids.
- To determine mechanisms of action for AMP-inducer molecules on the antimicrobial peptide regulatory circuits disconnected from inflammation.
- To chemically optimize AMP-inducer molecules in terms of activity and drug-likeness by medicinal chemistry.
- To assess AMP-inducer molecules efficacy in pre-clinical models of validation.
METHODOLOGY
In the MaxImmun project, we are searching for AMP-inducer molecules in the underexplored marine ecosystem. Marine organisms, like sponges, with their symbiotic microorganisms such as bacteria and microalgae, are sources of a wide variety of valuable molecules. These microorganisms are not only sources of highly active natural compounds, but also of metabolites involved in communication during interspecies interactions, whose unique chemical structures are not found in terrestrial organisms. Chemical biology of the marine ecosystem constitutes a valuable source of molecules with high-potential for the AMP-inducers discovery.
