Deciphering Interaction Of Ubi (23-33) With Model Bacterial And Mammalian Membranes

Ubiquicidin or ribosomal protein S30 is an antimicrobial protein that is active against a variety of intracellular as well as extracellular pathogens. UBI (23-33) is an eleven amino acid long fragment (EK(5)TGRAK) of this protein, which was predicted to be an antimicrobial peptide (AMP). We evaluated the interaction of this peptide with anionic and zwitterionic large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) by dynamic light scattering (DLS). Furthermore, the conformation of UBI (23-33) was studied in anionic vesicles using Circular Dichroism (CD). Uptake of Ga-68-UBI (23-33) tracer was studied in S. aureus. The potential of this peptide as an in-situ infection diagnostic probe was evaluated in a mice model of infection by positron emission tomography (PET).