Publications by authors named "Sara A Spinella"

Introduction: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is commonly undertreated. Physicians cite discomfort with AUD medication as a barrier to treatment. While several curricula teach and assess screening and brief interventions, few teach and assess learner knowledge of treatment options.

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There is an active interest in peptides that readily cross cell membranes without the assistance of cell membrane receptors(1). Many of these are referred to as cell-penetrating peptides, which are frequently noted for their potential as drug delivery vectors(1-3). Moreover, there is increasing interest in antimicrobial peptides that operate via non-membrane lytic mechanisms(4,5), particularly those that cross bacterial membranes without causing cell lysis and kill cells by interfering with intracellular processes(6,7).

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The increase in multidrug resistant bacteria has sparked an interest in the development of novel antibiotics. Antimicrobial peptides that operate by crossing the cell membrane may also have the potential to deliver drugs to intracellular targets. Buforin 2 (BF2) is an antimicrobial peptide that shares sequence identity with a fragment of histone subunit H2A and whose bactericidal mechanism depends on membrane translocation and DNA binding.

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Previous studies have identified several naturally occurring antimicrobial peptides derived from histone proteins. This research aimed to design novel histone-derived antimicrobial peptides (HDAPs). To this end, three novel peptides (DesHDAP1, DesHDAP2, and DesHDAP3) were designed based on a histone-DNA crystal structure and structural properties of buforin II, the best characterized naturally occurring HDAP.

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