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Updated: Mar 17, 2026

Production and Visualization of Bacterial Spheroplasts and Protoplasts to Characterize Antimicrobial Peptide Localization
Published on: August 11, 2018
Bacterial Spheroplasts as a Model for Visualizing Membrane Translocation of Antimicrobial Peptides
Lei Wei1, Maria A LaBouyer2, Louise E O Darling3
1Biochemistry Program, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA.
Abstract:
Studies attempting to characterize the membrane translocation of antimicrobial and cell-penetrating peptides are frequently limited by the resolution of conventional light microscopy. This study shows that spheroplasts provide a valuable approach to overcome these limits. Spheroplasts produce less ambiguous images and allow for more systematic analyses of localization. Data collected with spheroplasts are consistent with studies using normal bacterial cells and imply that a particular peptide may not always follow the same mechanism of action.
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