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Updated: May 23, 2026

Production and Visualization of Bacterial Spheroplasts and Protoplasts to Characterize Antimicrobial Peptide Localization
Published on: August 11, 2018
Host defence peptides: antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activity and potential applications for tackling
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Centre for Microbial Diseases and Immunity Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Abstract:
The rapidly increasing incidence of multidrug-resistant infections and the alarmingly low rate of discovery of conventional antibiotics create an urgent need for alternative strategies to treat bacterial infections. Host defence peptides are short cationic molecules produced by the immune systems of most multicellular organisms; they are a class of compounds being actively researched. In this review, we provide an overview of the antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activities of natural host defence peptides, and discuss strategies for creating artificial derivatives with improved biological and pharmacological properties, issues of microbial resistance, and challenges associated with their adaptation for clinical use.
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