Mechanism of action of tethered antimicrobial peptides

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are important host defense molecules of living organisms. They protect the host from infections and have remained potent to date. In an era of antibiotic resistance, there is a great desire to develop such peptides into novel antimicrobials. Another important application is to immobilize AMPs on biomaterials to prevent biofilm formation on implanted medical devices. Here we highlight known information on the mechanistic aspects of surface immobilized AMPs. As of May 2017, 39 such peptides, natural or artificial, have been surface immobilized according to the Antimicrobial Peptide Database. In some cases, tethered peptides can target bacterial membranes similar to free ones, whereas they may also display different properties in other cases. Future studies will shed new light on the mechanism of action of immobilized AMPs.