Designing a cross-disciplinary hit-to-lead platform for identifying optimum peptide-based antimicrobial therapeutics

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a potential alternative to classical antibiotics that are yet
to achieve a therapeutic breakthrough for treatment of systemic infections. We will develop a
hit-to-lead platform, with throughput enhanced by high-performance computing, to identify
lead candidate peptides with greater potency and selectivity. This lead will have a greater in
vivo therapeutic index, which will be evaluated through biophysical and biochemical
experimental approaches. We will then use this platform to investigate the synergistic effects
of a combination of these leads in order to determine the best 'cocktail' of therapeutics when
targeting either Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria.