Does oxidative damage to mammalian membranes make them susceptible to antimicrobial peptides?

The antibacterial peptide protegrin inserts preferentially into bacterial model membranes, which are negatively charged, compared to mammalian model membranes which carry no net charge. Oxidation of lipid membranes is now known to change their interaction with peptides, often considerably. In this proposal we wish to determine if oxidation of model mammalian membranes, leading to carboxylic acid groups in the lipid tail which will i) be predominantly deprotonated at pH 7.4, and ii) subsequently reorientate so that the carboxylate group can interact with the lipid head region, leads to increased interaction with the antibacterial peptide protegrin.