Effects of peptide hydrophobicity on its incorporation in phospholipid membranes - an NMR and ellipsometry study

►Effects of different hydrophobic modifications in CNY21 antimicrobial peptide were investigated by NMR and ellipsometry. ►Both hydrophobic modifications promote peptide binding to membranes, membrane disruption, and bacterial killing. ►CNY21L penetrates into the membrane interior in the absence of cholesterol, but is unable to do so in the presence of cholesterol. ►CNY21WWW displays relatively shallow localization in the membrane irrespective of cholesterol, but is not excluded from the membrane by cholesterol.