Magainin
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Script error: No such module "Infobox". The magainins are a class of antimicrobial peptides found in the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis).[1] The peptides are cationic, generally lack a stable conformation in water but form amphipathic α-helix in membranes; their mechanism against micro-organisms is unclear but they disrupt the cell membranes of a broad spectrum of bacteria, protozoa, and fungi.[2]
They were independently discovered at around the same time by the labs of Michael Zasloff at the NIH and Dudley H. Williams at the University of Cambridge.[2] They were named by Zasloff, after the Hebrew word for "shield," מגן māgēn (Ashkenazi pronunciation: magain).[3]
Zasloff helped found a company, Magainin Pharmaceuticals (subsequently called Genaera) to develop magainins into drugs.[4] One candidate was an analog of magainin called pexiganan (MSI-78) that the company developed as a topical agent for infected diabetic foot ulcers; in 1999 the FDA rejected the application because pexiganan was not better than standard treatments.[2][5][6] Another company, Dipexium Pharmaceuticals, ran further phase III clinical trials for the same use, which failed in 2016.[7]
References
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- ↑ Template:Replace at the U.S. National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
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- ↑ Interviewed in 1987, Zasloff explained: "I used it because it came from the skin and it was shielding, in my opinion. What the hell, I hadn't heard a Hebrew name in science before" (Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".). In a later interview, his wife, Barbara Zasloff, added: "Tradition would have it that he would have given it a Latin or Greek name. We both felt that he comes from a Hebrew tradition and it would be very appropriate to give it a Hebrew name" (Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".).
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