Elucidating the antibacterial activity of chemically modified cobra venom cytotoxin-derived peptides

Healthcare-associated infections are becoming harder to treat because some bacteria no longer respond to antibiotics. One important example, Klebsiella pneumoniae, can cause serious lung infection and blood poisoning. This thesis explores cobra venom toxin (from snakes in the Naja genus) as a potential new source of treatment. A peptide derived from the toxin was found to kill K. pneumoniae in laboratory tests and studying its mechanism of action may help researchers design new antimicrobial drugs based on cobra venom in the future.