Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Antimicrobial Peptide CM15 in Staphylococcus Aureus and Escherichia coli Model Bilayer Lipid

In animals and plants, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are crucial components of defense mechanisms, as they play a crucial role in innate immunity, which protects hosts from pathogenic bacteria. The CM15 has attracted considerable interest as a novel antibiotic against gram-negative and positive pathogens. The aim of this study was to investigate the permeation potential of the CM15 with membrane bilayers of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The bilayer membranes of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were modelled with the resemblance in lipid composition to its biological sample. This study followed Protein-Membrane Interaction (PMI) through successive applications of molecular dynamics simulation by GROMACS and CHARMM36 force field for two sets of 120-ns simulations. Significant results were obtained from analyzing the trajectory of the unsuccessful insertion of CM15 during simulation. Our data suggested that Lysine residues in CM15 and Cardiolipins in membrane leaflets play a crucial role in stability and interaction terms. The obtained results strengthen the insertion possibility through the toroidal model, which should consider for further studies on AMPs interaction.