Number of insects, widely distributed, with a high degree of adaptability and defense mechanisms, 1972, Swedish scientists Boman First the the efficient antimicrobial peptides Cecropins the earliest found separated from the immune hemolymph of silkworm chrysalis days later from the silkworm, Tussah, castor antimicrobial peptide isolated from the silkworm and a variety of insects. Has found more than 170 kinds of insect antibacterial studies have shown that insect antimicrobial peptides with broad-spectrum antibacterial killing of resistant strains, the cells of the organism at the same time non-destructive, non-immunogenic, production and release is part of the body's inflammatory response is an important barrier to invasion of host defense against bacteria, fungi, and other pathogenic microorganisms, very broad application prospects. Despite the insect antimicrobial peptides in molecular size and amino acid composition of the same, but their common feature is quite obvious, usually a molecular weight of less than 5000, with the thermal stability of alkaline peptides form α-helix structure and β lamellar structure, or a mixture of both structures.
