The human antimicrobial peptide LL‑37 can kill the tularemia‑causing bacteria Francisella at very low (nanomolar) levels, stops the bacteria from forming protective biofilms, and does not damage human cells, making it a promising candidate for future drug development, though it isn’t something you can safely take right now.

Francisella infects the lungs causing pneumonic tularemia. Focusing on the lung's host defense, we have examined antimicrobial peptides as part of the innate immune response to Francisella infection. Interest in antimicrobial peptides, such as the cathelicidins, has grown due their potential therapeutic applications and the increasing problem of bacterial resistance to commonly used antibiotics. Only one human cathelicidin, LL-37, has been characterized. Helical cathelicidins have also been discovered in snakes including the Chinese King Cobra, Naja atra (NA-CATH). Four synthetic 11-residue peptides (ATRA-1, -2, -1A and -1P) containing variations of a repeated motif within NA-CATH were designed. We hypothesized that these smaller synthetic peptides could have excellent antimicrobial effectiveness with shorter length (and less cost), making them strong potential candidates for development into broad-spectrum antimicrobial compounds. We tested the susceptibility of F. novicida to four ATRA peptides, LL-37, and NA-CATH. Two of the ATRA peptides had high antimicrobial activity (microM), while the two proline-containing ATRA peptides had low activity. The ATRA peptides did not show significant hemolytic activity even at high peptide concentration, indicating low cytotoxicity against host cells. NA-CATH killed Francisella bacteria more quickly than LL-37. However, LL-37 was the most effective peptide against F. novicida (EC50=50 nM). LL-37 mRNA was induced in A549 cells by Francisella infection. We recently demonstrated that F. novicida forms in vitro biofilms. LL-37 inhibited F. novicida biofilm formation at sub-antimicrobial concentrations. Understanding the properties of these peptides, and their endogenous expression in the lung could lead to potential future therapeutic interventions for this lung infection.