Some families of host-defense peptides exhibit selective cytotoxicity towards cancer cells and therefore might be promising as a new type of anti-cancer therapy. Morash et al. now report on a screen of 26 naturally occurring cationic antimicrobial peptides of the pleurocidin family, carried out using in vitro testing and an in vivo zebrafish embryo model. Specific members of this family selectively induce death of cancer cells, leaving non-cancerous cells unharmed, indicating that certain pleurocidin variants might be promising anti-cancer agents. Page 622
Written by editorial staff. © 2011. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.
2011
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