Hybridizing two known antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is a simple and effective strategy for designing antimicrobial agents with enhanced cell selectivity against bacterial cells. Here, we generated a hybrid peptide Lf-KR in which LfcinB6 and KR-12-a4 were linked with a Pro hinge to obtain a novel AMP with potent antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-biofilm activities. Lf-KR exerted superior cell selectivity for bacterial cells over sheep red blood cells. Lf-KR showed broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities (MIC: 4-8 μM) against tested 12 bacterial strains and retained its antimicrobial activity in the presence of salts at physiological concentrations. Membrane depolarization and dye leakage assays showed that the enhanced antimicrobial activity of Lf-KR was due to increased permeabilization and depolarization of microbial membranes. Lf-KR significantly inhibited the expression and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (nitric oxide and tumor necrosis factor-α) in LPS-stimulated mouse macrophage RAW264.7 cells. In addition, Lf-KR showed a powerful eradication effect on preformed multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MDRPA) biofilms. We confirmed using confocal laser scanning microscopy that a large portion of the preformed MDRPA biofilm structure was perturbed by the addition of Lf-KR. Collectively, our results suggest that Lf-KR can be an antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-biofilm candidate as a pharmaceutical agent.
© 2022. The Author(s).