Effects of single amino acid substitutions on peptide interaction with lipid membranes and bacteria-variants of GKE21, an internal sequence from human LL-37
Effects of helix destabilization on lipid membrane interaction, liposome rupture, and bacterial killing was investigated for variants of the antimicrobial peptide GKE21 (GKEFKRIVQRIKDFLRNLVPR), an internal sequence of human cathelicidin LL-37, by ellipsometry, circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy, and bacterial radial diffusion assay. GKE21 displayed moderate helix induction in buffer, wh