Colloidal Dispersions of Gramicidin D in Water: Preparation, Characterization, and Differential Cytotoxicity.

Gramicidin D (Gr) is a natural mixture of channel peptides A-C with minor differences in chemical structure, which are able to span cell membranes as dimers. These Gr channels allow single-file diffusion of cations, thereby disrupting the usual ionic balance in biological cells and inducing cell lysis. The microbicidal activity of Gr using different carriers such as bilayer vesicles or bilayer disks, supported bilayers on silica, or polystyrene nanoparticles has been described.