The antimicrobial peptide PFR induces necroptosis mediated by ER stress and elevated cytoplasmic calcium and mitochondrial ROS levels: cooperation with Ara-C to act against acute myeloid leukemia

Abstract

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are an ancient class of short polypeptides present in a large number of species in nature with a variety of functions. 1 PFR (PFWRIRIRR-NH 2 ) is one kind of AMP identified among the derivatives of lactoferrin. 2 Our previous results showed that PFR inhibited the proliferation of human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) HL60 cells potentially without toxicity against normal cells. In addition, PFR induced necrosis by membrane disruption detected using scanning electron microscopy. 3 However, the underlying mechanisms of these effects are not clearly understood.