From antimicrobial peptide to anticancer peptide

Abstract

Introduction: The term antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is used to describe small proteins that can kill or inhibit the growth of various microorganisms. These peptides have different origins such as insects, amphibians, mammals, fungi, etc. and have various activities such as antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, etc. Their number has been steadily increasing since the 1980s. Description: Due to the increasing incidence of cancer worldwide, researchers are looking to replace biological treatments with chemotherapy, because such treatments reduce side effects in patients. In this review, we focus on peptides with anti-cancer activity and based on various studies and researches, first descriptions about these anti-cancer peptides, their origin and mechanism of action are described. We will also review the possibility of developing different drugs and treatments based on these peptides, vaccines and peptide hormones, and the advantages of using them compared to other treatments. Discussion and conclusion: Based on various studies and researches, it has been found that these peptides show a high level of specificity against cancer cells and much higher anti-cancer activity than chemotherapy drugs. Not all antimicrobial peptides have anticancer properties, but the properties that make peptides targets for anti-cancer therapies include differences such as net charge, hydrophobic and amphipathic properties, their secondary structure in membranes, their sequence length, and so on. In the future, biological anticancer therapies will replace therapies with side effects such as chemotherapy.