Synthesis and characterization of antimicrobial peptides for medical and dental applications

Khurshid, Zohaib (2015). Synthesis and characterization of antimicrobial peptides for medical and dental applications. University of Birmingham. M.Res.

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Abstract

Epidemically, infectious diseases had always remained one of the leading causes of mortality and therefore are identified as a public health issue all around the world. It has been reported that one of the major cause of bacterial pathogens increasing at an alarming rate are due to over-prescription, general, aimless and pervasive use of antibiotics for both medical and non-medical means and generating multi drug resistance due to these pathogenic bacteria. The situation has been worsened due to serious decline in the level and quality of industrial research aimed for developing novel antimicrobial drugs.

We interrogating synthetic human defensins antimicrobial peptides analogs by chemical synthesis will provide intuition of its architecture, function, and antimicrobial properties. In this project, six peptide sequences were selected from α- and β human defensins, synthesized by solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) and purified by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Mass spectrometry was used to analyze the mass of synthetic peptides and their purity. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) was used to measure antimicrobial spectrum against Streptococcus epidermidis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. MIC were also used for evaluation of their turgidity in presence of microorganisms. MBC were used for quantifying concentration of antimicrobial peptide against microorganisms. The main outcome of this work was producing antimicrobial peptides sequences.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Masters by Research > M.Res.)

Award Type:

Masters by Research > M.Res.

Supervisor(s):