Pleurocidin-family cationic antimicrobial peptides are cytolytic for breast carcinoma cells and prevent growth of tumor xenografts.

Introduction Cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAPs) defend against microbial pathogens; however, certain CAPs also exhibit anticancer activity. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of the pleurocidin-family CAPs, NRC-03 and NRC-07, on breast cancer cells.