Short Proline-Rich Antimicrobial Peptides Inhibit Either the Bacterial 70S Ribosome or the Assembly of its Large 50S Subunit.

Short proline-rich antimicrobial peptides (PrAMPs) are a promising class of antibiotics that use novel mechanisms, thus offering the potential to overcome the health threat of multiresistant pathogens. The peptides bind to the bacterial 70S ribosome and can inhibit protein translation. We report that PrAMPs can be divided into two classes, with each class binding to a different site, and thus use different lethal mechanisms.