Figure 1.
Mechanisms of HDPs antimicrobial activity
| Antibacterial | |||
| Mechanism of action | HDPs | Target organism | Reference |
| Permeabilization of the outer and the inner membrane | HNP4 | E. coli, E. aerogenes, En. faecalis, S. aureus, B. cereus | (46) |
| Membrane dysfunction | Lactoferrin | V. cholerae, S. typhimurium, E. coli. | (47) |
| Inhibition of cell wall synthesis | BMAP-28 | A. baumannii | (48) |
| Polymixin E | E. coli, P. aeruginosa | (49) | |
| RTD-1 | E. coli, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus | (50) | |
| Mersacidin | B. cereus M. luteus S. simulans | (51) (52) | |
| Seminalplasmin | E. coli | (53) | |
| HNP-1 | C. difficile | (54) | |
| hBD3 | S.aureus, E. faecium | (55) (10) | |
| Inhibition of DNA, RNA and protein synthesis | tPMP-1 and tPMP-2 | S.aureus | (11) |
| Pleurocidin | E. coli | (56) | |
| Apidaecins, oncocins | E. coli | ||
| Activation of the microbial autolytic systems | RTD-1 and RTD-2 | S. aureus, S. simulans, S. carnosus | |
| Antiviral | |||
| Viral envelopes lysis | LL-37 | Vaccinia virus | (13) |
| Interference with viral adsorption and/or entry into the cell | Dermaseptins | HSV1 | (14) |
| HNPs-1 - 3, HD-5 | HPV | (17) | |
| HNP-1 | HSV1 | (18) | |
| NP-1 | HSV2 | (19) | |
| HD5 | HIV1 | (57) | |
| β-defensin-2 and HBD-3 | HIV1 | (58) | |
| Inhibition of replication | Melittin, Cecropin | HIV1 | (15) |
| Alpha-defensin-1 | HIV1 | (20) | |
| β-defensin-2, HBD-3 | HIV1 | (58) (21) | |
| LL-37 | HIV1 | (59) | |
| Blocking expression of viral genes | HNP-1 and HBD-2 | HIV1 | (16) |
| LL-37, mCRAMP | Influenza A virus | (22) | |
| Retrocyclin 2 | H5N1 | (60) | |
| HNP2, HDP | HSV2 | ||
| Antifungal | |||
| Membrane lysis | Cecropin B, Dermaseptin | A. flavus, A. fumigates, A. niger, F. moniliforme, F. oxysporum | (24) |
| Ranalexin, Magainin II | Candida spp, Cryptococcus | (27) | |
| Inhibition of fungal chitin synthase | Nikkomycins X and Z | C. immitis, B. dermatitidis | (30, 31) |
| Inhibition of sphingolipid synthesis | Aureobasidin A | S. cerevisiae | (32) |
| Disruption of actin assembly and chitin delocalization | Aureobasidin A | S. cerevisiae | (61) |
| Induction of reactive oxygen species | RsAFP2 | C. albicans | (62) (63) |
| HsAFP1 | S. cerevisiae | (64) | |
| Induction of ion fluxes | DmAMP1 | (65) | |
| Cell cycle progression impairment | RsAFP2 | N. crassa | (66) |
| Psd1 | N. crassa | ||
| Antiparasitic | |||
| Membrane permeabilisation | NK-lysin | P. falciparum | (42) |
| T. cruzi | (43) | ||
| Oocyst development and sporozoite production | Magainin 2, Cecropin B | Plasmodium spp. | (44) |
| Membrane disruption, morphological changes, apoptosis induction | bLF | (45) | |
| G. intestinalis | |||