Defense Peptides Engineered from Human Platelet Factor 4 Kill Plasmodium by Selective Membrane Disruption (Cell Chemical Biology)

Lawrence et al. incorporated the active component of the human host defense protein platelet factor 4 into a stable and structured cyclic peptide, cPF4PD. This peptide selectively entered red blood cells infected with Plasmodium where it killed parasites by lysing their digestive vacuole, without damaging the host cell.