Background
Magainin 1 is a cationic peptide originally isolated from the skin of the African clawed frog (X. laevis) with roles in host defense and antimicrobial activity.1 It reduces germination percentage and mean tube elongation in kiwi fruit pollen (EC50s = 14 and 15.8 μM, respectively).2 Magainin 1 decreases viral replication in Vero cells infected with herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) or HSV-2 (EC50s = 36.59 and 33.2 μM, respectively) without affecting cell viability (CC50 = >100 μM).3 It induces apoptosis in HL-60 cells when used at concentrations of 10 and 50 μM and hemolysis in isolated human erythrocytes at 50 μM.4 Magainin 1 (10 and 50 μM) induces DNA fragmentation in HL-60 cells in a reporter assay.