Structure-activity relationship of potent antimicrobial peptide analogs of Ixosin-B amide

There is a great urgency in developing a new generation of antibiotics and antimicrobial agents since the bacterial resistance to antibiotics have increased dramatically. A series of overlapped peptide fragments of Ixosin-B, an antimicrobial peptide with amino acid sequence of QLKVDLWGTRSGIQPEQHSSGKSDVRRWRSRY, was designed, synthesized and examined for their antimicrobial activities against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A potent 11-mer peptide TSG-8-1, WWSYVRRWRSR-amide, was developed, which exhibited antimicrobial activity against E. coli and S. aureus while very little hemolytic activity in human erythrocytes was observed at high dose level. This peptide could be further modified for the development of a potent antimicrobial agent in the future.