Shahzad Nazir, Arif Iftikhar Khan, Rukesh Maharjan, Sadiq Noor Khan, Muhammad Adnan Akram, Marc Maresca, Farooq-Ahmad Khan, Farzana Shaheen
In the face of rising the threat of resistant pathogens, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) offer a viable alternative to the current challenge due to their broad-spectrum activity. This study focuses on enhancing the efficacy of temporin-SHa derived NST-2 peptide (), which is known for its antimicrobial and anticancer activities. We synthesized new analogs of using three strategies, i.e., retro analog preparation, lysine addition/substitution, and levofloxacin conjugation. Analogs were tested in terms of their antibacterial, antifungal, and anticancer activities. Analog corresponding to retro analog of NST-2, was found to be more active but also more hemolytic, reducing its selectivity index and therapeutic potential. The addition of lysine (in analog ) and lysine substitution (in analog ) reduced the hemolytic effect resulting in safer peptides. Conjugation with levofloxacin on the lysine side chain (in analogs and ) decreased the hemolytic effect but unfortunately also the antimicrobial and anticancer activities of the analogs. Oppositely, conjugation with levofloxacin at the N-terminus of the peptide via the ��-alanine linker (in analogs and ) increased their antimicrobial and anticancer activity but also their hemolytic effect, resulting in less safe/selective analogs. In conclusion, lysine addition/substitution and levofloxacin conjugation, at least at the N-terminal position through the ��-alanine linker, were found to enhance the therapeutic potential of retro analogs of NST-2 whereas other modifications decreased the activity or increased the toxicity of the peptides.
