Plant Protease Inhibitors as Emerging Antimicrobial Peptide Agents: A Comprehensive Review

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are important mediator molecules of the innate defense mechanisms in a wide range of living organisms, including bacteria, mammals, and plants. Among them, peptide protease inhibitors (PPIs) from plants play a central role in their defense mechanisms by directly attacki...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Pharmaceutics Vol. 16; no. 5; p. 582
Main Authors:	Parisi, Mónica G, Ozón, Brenda, Vera González, Sofía M, García-Pardo, Javier, Obregón, Walter David
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Switzerland MDPI AG 01-05-2024
Subjects:	Amino acids antibacterial compounds antibiotic resistance Antibiotics antifungal agents antimicrobial activity Antimicrobial agents antimicrobial peptides Bacteria Cell death Chemical bonds Chemical compounds Cysteine Cytotoxicity Drug resistance in microorganisms Drug therapy Enzymes Fungi Health aspects Hydrolases Lipids Membranes Metabolites Methicillin Molecular weight Pathogens Peptides Physiological aspects Physiology plant protease inhibitors Protease inhibitors Proteins R&D Research & development antifungal agents antibacterial compounds antibiotic resistance antimicrobial activity cysteine-rich peptides antimicrobial peptides plant protease inhibitors
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Summary:	Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are important mediator molecules of the innate defense mechanisms in a wide range of living organisms, including bacteria, mammals, and plants. Among them, peptide protease inhibitors (PPIs) from plants play a central role in their defense mechanisms by directly attacking pathogens or by modulating the plant's defense response. The growing prevalence of microbial resistance to currently available antibiotics has intensified the interest concerning these molecules as novel antimicrobial agents. In this scenario, PPIs isolated from a variety of plants have shown potential in inhibiting the growth of pathogenic bacteria, protozoans, and fungal strains, either by interfering with essential biochemical or physiological processes or by altering the permeability of biological membranes of invading organisms. Moreover, these molecules are active inhibitors of a range of proteases, including aspartic, serine, and cysteine types, with some showing particular efficacy as trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitors. In this review, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the potential of plant-derived PPIs as novel antimicrobial molecules, highlighting their broad-spectrum antimicrobial efficacy, specificity, and minimal toxicity. These natural compounds exhibit diverse mechanisms of action and often multifunctionality, positioning them as promising molecular scaffolds for developing new therapeutic antibacterial agents.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Review-1
ISSN:	1999-4923 1999-4923
DOI:	10.3390/pharmaceutics16050582