Bactericidal activity against meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus of a novel eukaryotic therapeutic recombinant antimicrobial peptide

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are one of several potential antibacterial agents in the current era of antibiotics facing severe challenges. In this study, the bactericidal activity and stability of two eukaryotic AMPs were determined. Both AMPs showed specific antibacterial activity in a HEK293T cell model infected with meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The recombinant eukaryotic AMP pVAX1/hBD3-CBD showed better bactericidal activity and stability than the eukaryotic AMP pVAX1/hBD3. These results illustrate that this peptide, designed and used with eukaryotic expression and recombinant methods, should be studied and applied in further AMP research and trials.