LyeTx I, an antimicrobial peptide isolated from the venom of Lycosa erythrognatha, known as wolf spider, has been synthesised and its structural profile studied by using the CD and NMR techniques. LyeTx I has shown to be active against bacteria (Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus) and fungi (Candida krusei and Cryptococcus neoformans) and able to alter the permeabilisation of l-α-phosphatidylcholine-liposomes (POPC) in a dose-dependent manner. In POPC containing cholesterol or ergosterol, permeabilisation has either decreased about five times or remained unchanged, respectively. These results, along with the observed low haemolytic activity, indicated that antimicrobial membranes, rather than vertebrate membranes seem to be the preferential targets. However, the complexity of biological membranes compared to liposomes must be taken in account. Besides, other membrane components, such as proteins and even specific lipids, cannot be discarded to be important to the preferential action of the LyeTx I to the tested microorganisms. The secondary structure of LyeTx I shows a small random-coil region at the N-terminus followed by an α-helix that reached the amidated C-terminus, which might favour the peptide-membrane interaction. The high activity against bacteria together with the moderate activity against fungi and the low haemolytic activity have indicated LyeTx I as a good prototype for developing new antibiotic peptides.

The heterodimeric antimicrobial peptide distinctin is composed of 2 linear peptide chains of 22- and 25-aa residues that are connected by a single intermolecular S-S bond. This heterodimer has been considered to be a unique example of a previously unrecorded class of bioactive peptides. Here the 2 distinctin chains were prepared by chemical peptide synthesis in quantitative amounts and labeled with ¹⁵ N, as well as ¹⁵ N and ² H, at selected residues, respectively, and the heterodimer was formed by oxidation. CD spectroscopy indicates a high content of helical secondary structures when associated with POPC/POPG 3:1 vesicles or in membrane-mimetic environments. The propensity for helix formation follows the order heterodimer >chain 2 >chain 1, suggesting that peptide-peptide and peptide-lipid interactions both help in stabilizing this secondary structure. In a subsequent step the peptides were reconstituted into oriented phospholipid bilayers and investigated by ² H and proton-decoupled ¹⁵ N solid-state NMR spectroscopy. Whereas chain 2 stably inserts into the membrane at orientations close to perfectly parallel to the membrane surface in the presence or absence of chain 1, the latter adopts a more tilted alignment, which further increases in the heterodimer. The data suggest that membrane interactions result in considerable conformational rearrangements of the heterodimer. Therefore, chain 2 stably anchors the heterodimer in the membrane, whereas chain 1 interacts more loosely with the bilayer. These structural observations are consistent with the antimicrobial activities when the individual chains are compared to the dimer.