Detoxification of bee venom melittin to create a selective pore-forming peptide by substitution of key amino acids

Melittin, the archetypal 26 residue α-helical peptide toxin is the main component of European Honeybee venom. With its ability to partition into lipid bilayer membranes and form an amphipathic helix, melittin permeabilizes many different types of membranes indiscriminately and has a wide toxicity against mammalian cells, bacteria, fungi, insects and more. MelP5 and M159 are two melittin variants discovered by high-throughput screening. They share similar amino acid sequences while having distinct characteristics.