Antimicrobial Peptides

- Dr. Guangshun Wang is an associate professor in the Department of Pathology and Microbiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), Omaha, USA. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biophysical Chemistry from Simon Fraser University, Canada in 1997. During his postdoctoral stints at the Florida State University and at the National Institutes of Health (USA), he studied 3D structures of bacterial signal-transducing protein-protein complexes by multidimensional NMR spectroscopy. His current research interests at UNMC include structural, bioinformatic, and functional studies of host defense antimicrobial peptides and their potential applications that benefit human beings and agriculture, including both plants and animals. For this purpose, his laboratory created in 2003, and has been maintaining, the Antimicrobial Peptide Database (http://aps.unmc.edu/AP), a widely utilized tool for research and education in the field. Dr. Wang has edited three books, obtained four patents and published 90 original papers, review articles, and book chapters. Currently, he also serves as an Associate Editor for Current Organic Chemistry and an editorial board member of Pharmaceuticals.

PART I: OVERVIEW OF ANTIMICROBIAL PEPTIDES 1: Discovery, Classification and Functional Diversity of Antimicrobial Peptides PART II: NATURAL TEMPLATES FOR PEPTIDE ENGINEERING 2: Structural and Functional Diversity of Cathelicidins 3: Disulfide-linked Defensins and Their Therapeutic Potential 4: Lantibiotics: Bioengineering and Applications PART III: EXPANDING PEPTIDE SPACE: COMBINATORIAL LIBRARY, GENOME-BASED PREDICTION AND DE NOVO DESIGN 5: Discovery of Novel Antimicrobial Peptides Using Combinatorial Chemistry and High-throughput Screening 6: Prediction and Design of Antimicrobial Peptides: Methods and Applications to Genomes and Proteomes PART IV: MECHANISMS OF ACTION: BIOPHYSICS AND STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY 7: Antimicrobial Peptides: Multiple Mechanisms Against a Variety of Targets 8: Microbial Membranes and the Action of Antimicrobial Peptides 9: Non-membranolytic Mechanisms of Action of Antimicrobial Peptides – Novel Therapeutic Opportunities? 10: Structural Insight into the Mechanisms of Action of Antimicrobial Peptides and Structure-based Design PART V: NOVEL THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES: SYNERGY, IMMUNE MODULATION, SURFACE COATING, AND DELIVERY 11: Synergy of Antimicrobial Peptides 12: Surface Immobilization of Antimicrobial Peptides to Prevent Biofilm Formation 13: Sustained Delivery of Cathelicidin Antimicrobial Peptide-Inducing Compounds to Minimize Infection and Enhance Wound Healing 14: Immunomodulatory Activities of Cationic Host Defence Peptides and Novel Therapeutic Strategies