Anti-microbial peptide disinfection by QED

PITTSBURGH - July 3, 2015 - PRLog -- .
Introduction
AMPs are thought to disinfect bacteria by disrupting [1] cell membrane integrity, thereby inhibiting DNA synthesis. AMPs stand for anti-microbial peptides. Generally, AMPs are considered cationic and carry a positive charge that ensures Coulomb attraction to the negatively charged cell membrane. Upon docking, AMPs continually burrow into the cell interior to lyse bacteria, but how cationic charge is maintained during burrowing is not explained. Some AMPs have the same mode of killing for different cell types, e.g., PMAP-23 lyses both fungi and parasites by forming pores in their cell membranes. However, AMPs forming pores in the cell wall [2] are not the only mechanism by which bacteria may be disinfected. Although indolicidin kills bacteria, fungi, and HIV by causing damage to cell membranes, E. coli are somehow thought lysed by indolicidin penetrating into the cytoplasm to damage the DNA while expressing anti-HIV activities by inhibiting HIV-integrase. Indeed, one third of the total proteins of a bacterial cell are associated with the membrane and have many functions that are critical to the cell including active transport of nutrients, respiration, proton motive force, ATP generation, and intercellular communication, all of which can be altered with AMPs even if complete cell lysis does not occur. Therefore, the killing effect of AMPs may not come from membrane disruption alone, but also depends on complex inhibition of protein functions.

Observation
Given that AMPs induce lysis for different cell types and diverse bacteria other than by disrupting membrane integrity, AMPs disinfection and inhibition of complex protein function can only be caused by a common and more fundamental disinfection mechanism for all organisms.

Hypothesis
AMPs produce QED induced EM radiation upon self-assembly of helical peptides into annular shaped cylindrical NPs. QED stands for quantum electrodynamics, EM for electromagnetic, and NP stands for nanoparticle. Depending on the size of the NPs, the QED induced EM radiation varies from the UV to the EUV thereby identifying ionizing EM radiation as the fundamental AMPs mechanism underlying the disinfection of all organisms, i.e., the disruption of the cell membrane, bacteria, fungi, and HIV including inhibition of diverse cell protein functions. UV and EUV stand for ultraviolet and extreme ultraviolet radiation.

Description
The QED embodiment of AMPs disinfection is depicted in the thumbnail. Helical peptide monomers self-assemble [2] into cylindrical shaped NPs of annular cross-section to disinfect by QED inducing NPs to produce a continuous source of EM radiation from the thermal surroundings. Large NPs < 100 nm produce UV radiation while EUV radiation is produced in small < 20 nm NPs, e.g., the self-assembly of 4–7 magainin monomers and 90 lipid molecules into NPs having an inner diameter of 3–5 nm and an outer diameter of 7–8.4 nm with 2 nm walls. Small annular NPs therefore find similarity with peptide nanotubes [3] produced from the self-assembly of cyclic peptide monomers. In AMPs, the positive charged peptide NPs are electrostatically attracted to the negative charged cell membrane. The NPs may dock parallel or perpendicular to the cell membrane, the EM radiation providing the energy for either orientation to burrow through the membrane wall.

Background
Like AMPs, NPs of anti-microbial silver also disinfect bacteria. Indeed, DNA damage from man-made < 100 nm NPs have been experimentally known for decades, and if not repaired, may lead [4] to cancer. See www.prlog.org/10793056-cancer-is-caused-by-disorganization-of-epithelial-tissue-and-not-by-dna-mutations.html (../10793056-cancer-is-caused-by-disorganization-of-epithe...)  Similarly, the human body produces biological NPs upon enzyme induced fragmentation of < 100 nm thick epithelial tissue, the NPs implicated in the spread of tumors. Of relevance to AMPs, the fundamental disinfection mechanism is ionizing EM radiation from NPs, and although low intensity, mimics the same reaction pathways of cancers caused by conventional ionizing EM radiation sources.

Theory
QED radiation is produced as annular shaped NPs absorb thermal energy from body fluids. Since QM precludes atoms in NPs from having heat capacity, absorbed thermal energy cannot be conserved by the usual increase in temperature. QM stands for quantum mechanics. But NPs have high surface to volume ratios, and therefore the absorbed thermal energy is confined to the NP surfaces. Spontaneously, QED converts the confined EM energy into standing wave QED radiation within the NP having wavelength λ = 2 nd, where n and d are the NP refractive index and diameter. Since the standing QED radiation is created from the absorbed thermal energy confined in the NP surfaces, the EM confinement vanishes allowing the standing QED radiation to momentarily function as absorbed EM radiation that charges the NP, and if not, is lost to the surroundings. QED radiation is continually produced in NPs from the heat in the thermal surroundings thereby providing the energy for NPs to  burrow through the negative charged cell membrane. See numerous QED applications at http://www.nanoqed.org/, 2010 – 2015.

Discussion
QED radiation requires the refractive index of the AMP NPs to be greater than that of the surroundings. For water n = 1.333, while proteins [5] have n = 1.36 to 1.6. Hence, the QED radiation for magainin NPs having, say n = 1.4 and outer diameter = 8 nm, is emitted at wavelength λ = 22.4 nm corresponding to EUV radiation. Unlike UV that penetrates water, EUV radiation is promptly absorbed at the cell membrane surface, and therefore AMPs burrow by the EUV fragmenting small amounts of the membrane at a time, the ionizing EUV radiation thereafter lysing the bacteria by scrambling the DNA to preclude reproduction.

Conclusion
AMP disinfection occurs by QED inducing the thermal energy absorbed by NPs from body fluids to produce ionizing EM radiation from UV to EUV levels, the NPs formed by the self-assembly of helical peptide monomers, the ionizing EM radiation allowing the NPs to burrow through cell membranes of bacteria and upon entering the cytoplasm scramble the DNA and inhibit the function of cell proteins. However, AMP disinfection by EM radiation like that with man-made NPs also damages the DNA. Disinfection by AMPs therefore carries the disadvantage of possibly causing cancer.

References
[1] A. A. Bahar and D. Ren, “Antimicrobial Peptides,” Pharmaceuticals, 6, 1543–1575, 2013.
[2] K. A. Brogden, “Antimicrobial peptides: pore formers or metabolic inhibitors in bacteria?” Nature reviews - Microbiology, 238-250, March 2005
[3] S. Scanlon and A. Aggeli, “Self-assembling peptide nanotubes,” NanoToday. 3(3-4), 22-30, 2008.
[4] T. Prevenslik, “Nanoparticle toxicity and Cancer,” Nanosafe, November 16-18, 2010, Grenoble
[5] D. B. Hand, “The refractivity of protein solutions,” J. Biol. Chem., 703- 707, 1935.