Spectroscopic investigations into inactivation of bacterial virulence factors

Infectious diseases are still one of the leading causes of death worldwide. For an effective therapeutic strategy, the corresponding bacterial virulence factors must be identified and methods to neutralize them must be developed. One important example of such bacterial factors is lipopolysaccharide (LPS), belonging to the most potent classes of triggers of mammal immune systems. A new and promising therapeutical approach to controlling bacterial virulence factors is the design and synthesis of suitable antimicrobial peptides (AMP), based on the LPS-binding domain of natural defense proteins. These have the potential not only to kill bacteria but to bind to and deactivate the virulence factors as well. A combination of spectroscopic methods (infrared, X-ray diffraction, fluorescence resonance energy transfer) used for the analysis of the inactivation mechanism of bacterial LPS is presented here.