View source for AGG01

{{medref|date=October 2019}}
'''AGG01''' a [[peptide antibiotic]] discovered in the breast milk of the [[Tammar wallaby]],<ref>{{cite web | title = Fighting superbugs with milk | url = https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19025484.300-fighting-superbugs-with-milk.html | work = NewScientist.com | date = 2006-04-20 | accessdate = 2006-09-07| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20060908023007/http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19025484.300-fighting-superbugs-with-milk.html| archivedate= 8 September 2006 | url-status= live}}</ref>  reportedly one hundred times more powerful than [[penicillin]] ''[[in vitro]]''.<ref name="times">{{cite news | date=2006-05-21|title = Wallaby milk gives scientists the jump on deadly superbug | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2190319,00.html |publisher = Sunday Times (Britain) | location=London}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

This compound was found to be effective against [[Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus|MRSA]], ''[[E. coli]]'', ''[[Streptococci]]'', ''[[Salmonella]]'', ''[[Bacillus subtilis]]'', ''[[Pseudomonas]]'' spp., ''[[Proteus vulgaris]]'', and ''[[Staphylococcus aureus]]''.

AGG01 is a [[cationic]] [[peptide]], which is a polycationic [[protein]] that is rich in positive residues of the [[amino acids]] [[arginine]] and [[lysine]], and which folds into an [[amphipathic]] structure (one which has both [[hydrophobic]] and [[hydrophilic]] areas). These features mean that it can interact with the [[anionic]] [[lipids]] in the bacterial membrane, such as phosphatidylglycerol. It inserts itself into the membrane, by competing with cross-linking proteins between each membrane layer, and then sets up trans-membrane protein channels which induce ion transport out of the cell. This causes huge leakage via osmosis through these 'pores' and the general consensus is that the loss of these essential molecules is the mechanism by which bacteria are killed. The bacterial membrane has a different structure from the mammalian plasma membrane, so the protein can only kill pathogenic cells and not human ones.

The compound was in [[preclinical development]] in 2007.<ref>{{cite news|date=2007-05-09 |title=Anti-superbug weapon developed from wallaby milk |url=http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1290 |publisher=COSMOS Magazine |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113035432/http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1290 |archivedate=2008-01-13 }}</ref>{{update-inline|date=February 2025}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Antimicrobial peptides]]


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