The Reversible Non-covalent Aggregation Into Fibers of PGLa and Magainin 2 Preserves Their Antimicrobial Activity and Synergism.

Magainin 2 and PGLa are antimicrobial peptides found together in frog skin secretions. When added as a mixture they show an order of magnitude increase in antibacterial activity and in model membrane permeation assays. Here we demonstrate that both peptides can form fibers with beta-sheet/turn signature in ATR-FTIR- and CD-spectroscopic analyses, but with different morphologies in EM images.