Abstract
The purpose of this book is to provide a comprehensive account on current antimicrobial peptide research in two major directions. The first direction delineates the classic path for peptide development, ranging through identification, design, structure and mode of action studies. The second direction describes novel strategies for developing peptide therapeutics based on our knowledge of host defence antimicrobial peptides discovered in living organisms. Part I provides an overview of nomenclature, classification and bioinformatic analysis of antimicrobial peptides from bacteria, plants and animals. Subsequently, lantibiotics from bacteria and cyclotides from plants are presented. Part II discusses database-aided peptide prediction and design methods, synthetic combinatorial libraries and peptide mimetics that expand the conformational space of natural antimicrobial peptides. Part III covers the biophysical and structural characterization of antimicrobial peptides and their complexes. Finally, Part IV focuses on novel strategies for developing peptide-based therapies.