Synthetic epidermicin NI01 can protect Galleria mellonella larvae from infection with Staphylococcus aureus

Epidermicin is a novel antimicrobial peptide that has potent activity against Gram-positive pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and it may have potential for use in therapy for infections caused by these bacteria, though in vivo efficacy needs to be demonstrated. Galleria mellonella larvae have recently been introduced as an alternative in vivo model to mammalian systems and here we examined the ability of a synthetic version of epidermicin to protect G. mellonella larvae from infection with S. aureus strains.