| abstract |
Peptides which have a net positive charge and none or only a partial .alpha.helix configuration were found to have a non-hemolytic selective cytolytic activity. The peptides may be derived from natural peptides such as pardaxin and mellitin and fragments thereof in which L-amino acid residues are replaced by corresponding D-amino acid residues, and cyclic derivatives of the foregoing, or are diastereomers of linear peptides composed of varying ratios of at least one positively charged amino acid and at least one hydrophobic amino acid, and in which at least one of the amino acid residues is a D-amino acid, and preferably at least one third of the sequence is composed of D-amino acid residues. Pharmaceutical compositions comprising the non-hemolytic cytolytic peptides can be used for the treatment of several diseases caused by pathogens including antibacterial, fungal, viral, mycoplasma and protozoan infections and for the treatment of cancer. |