Novel properties of antimicrobial peptides

Endogenous peptide antibiotics are known as evolutionarily old components of innate immunity. Due to interaction with cell membrane these peptides cause permeabilization of the membrane and lysis of invading microbes. However, some studies proved that antimicrobial peptides are universal multifunctional molecules and their functions extend far beyond simple antibiotics. In this review we present an overview of the general mechanism of action of antimicrobial peptides and discuss some of their additional properties, like antitumour activity, mitogenic activity, role in signal transduction pathways and adaptive immune response.