Insights into the Adsorption Mechanisms of the Antimicrobial Peptide CIDEM-501 on Membrane Models

Insights into the Adsorption Mechanisms of the Antimicrobial Peptide CIDEM-501 on Membrane Models

CIDEM-501 is a hybrid antimicrobial peptide rationally designed based on the structure of panusin and panulirin template peptides. The new peptide exhibits significant antibacterial activity against multidrug-resistant pathogens (MIC = 2–4 μM) while conserving no toxicity in human cell lines. We conducted molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using the CHARMM-36 force field to explore the CIDEM-501 adsorption mechanism with different membrane compositions. Several parameters that characterize these interactions were analyzed to elucidate individual residues’ structural and thermodynamic contributions. The membrane models were constructed using CHARMM-GUI, mimicking the bacterial and eukaryotic phospholipid compositions. Molecular dynamics simulations were conducted over 500 ns, showing rapid and highly stable peptide adsorption to bacterial lipids components rather than the zwitterionic eucaryotic model membrane. A predominant peptide orientation was observed in all models dominated by an electric dipole. The peptide remained parallel to the membrane surface with the center loop oriented to the lipids. Our findings shed light on the antibacterial activity of CIDEM-501 on bacterial membranes and yield insights valuable for designing potent antimicrobial peptides targeting multi- and extreme drug-resistant bacteria.

Gemeinsam gegen Pandemien (Working together against pandemics)

Gemeinsam gegen Pandemien (Working together against pandemics)

The aim is to improve the research infrastructure in Latin America, with a particular focus on producing anti-infectives and new vaccines against infectious diseases, as well as establishing diagnostics and monitoring for pandemics. That is why we are planning, for example, to establish modern laboratories at universities in Mexico City and Havana,” says Seliger, who is herself an immunologist and specialist in the immunological monitoring of infectious diseases and the development of immunotherapies. Unequal access to vaccinations and diagnostics for infectious diseases, as well as regional aspects, are also among the topics covered by the health center, explains Seliger: “Our concern is that all countries in the world have access to vaccines at a reasonable price. And that vaccines are developed that are easy to administer and do not have to be stored at minus 150 degrees, because that is not possible everywhere

After the protests and the pandemic: reassessing the international profile of Post-Castro Cuba

After the protests and the pandemic: reassessing the international profile of Post-Castro Cuba

As Cuba enters 2022, economic crisis and social tensions loom large. The paper reviews the external difficulties that interact with and reinforce the island’s domestic issues. Looking beyond the immediate situation it reflects on underlying international pressures and constraints that will shape the options for the Cuban nation over the next decade. Its analysis encompasses Cuba’s relations with the US and with the EU, as well as those with Venezuela, Mexico, China, Russia and Canada, and it asks to what extent Cuban-made COVID-19 vaccines can re-boost the country’s soft-power projection. In comparative perspective, Cuba’s regime -and its international perspective, the island’s regime -and its international profile- are in many ways still unlike any other, and predictive schemas based on false analogies risk being misleading.

Institutional reform and social policies in post-covid Cuba: an agenda for cooperation

Institutional reform and social policies in post-covid Cuba: an agenda for cooperation

Cuba and the European signed the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) in December 2016. In many ways it has been a very long six years. Four years of Trump’s US government disrupted the world and, with regard to Cuba, abruptly cut short the normalisation process begun under the Obama administration. Instead, the US embargo has been tightened.
Moreover, a shrill rhetoric has returned, as much from Republicans in Washington as from the Cuban-American community in Miami, that casts long shadows over any ideas of dialogue and reconciliation.

At the same time the Cuban economy has gone from bad to worse. The COVID-19 pandemic brought international tourism to a standstill and led to dramatic disruptions of the island’s economic and social life. Hopes for increased political tolerance in the post-Castro era have not been fulfilled. When popular frustration erupted in street protests on July 11th 2021, the state responded heavy-handedly. Hundreds were put on trial and given often draconic jail sentences. As plane traffic resumed, emigration soared.