Lipopeptide


A lipopeptide is a molecule consisting of a lipid connected to a peptide. Bacteria express these molecules. They are able to self-assemble into different structures. Certain lipopeptides are used as antibiotics. Other lipopeptides are toll-like receptor agonists. Lipoproteins are self-assembling molecules that are able to form structures. Certain lipopeptides can have strong antifungal and hemolytic activities. It has been demonstrated that their activity is generally linked to interactions with the plasma membrane, and sterol components of the plasma membrane could play a major role in this interaction. It is a general trend that adding a lipid group of a certain length to a lipopeptide will increase its bactericidal activity. Lipopeptides with a higher amount of carbon atoms, for example 14 or 16, in its lipid tail will typically have antibacterial activity as well as anti-fugal activity.
Lipopeptide detergents are composed of amphiphiles and two alkyl chains which are located on the last part of the peptide backbone. They were designed to mimic the architecture of the native membranes in which two alkyl chains in a lipid molecule facially interact with the hydrophobic segment of MPs.

Examples