NR Study of Membrane Disruptions by Rationally Designed Cationic Lipopeptides with Short Peptide Sequences

A group of designed lipopeptides with only 4 amino acids have displayed large differences in high antimicrobial efficacy against E. coli and high biocompatibility to host cells, as well as in secondary structures upon membrane binding. Neutron reflection is about the only method that could help reveal how these lipopeptides attack inner and outer bacterial membranes from the established membrane models for Gram-negative bacteria, whilst displaying sufficient biocompatibility to host cell membranes. This work is part of PhD research by Tianhao Ge and constitutes an important aspect of our design and development of effective antimicrobial peptides. We request 3 days of INTER time for this study. INTER is preferred for greater structural resolution, wider Q range and also selective runs to establish if any time-dependent binding and structural changes within the timescale of 10 to 60 min.