High pressure treatment promotes the deteriorating effect of cationic antimicrobial peptides on bacterial membranes.

The helical structure that cationic antimicrobial peptides (cAMPs) adopt upon interaction with membranes is key to their activity. We show that a high hydrostatic pressure not only increases the propensity of cAMPs to adopt a helical conformation in the presence of bacterial lipid bilayer membranes, but also in bulk solution, and the effect on bacterial membranes persists even up to 10 kbar. Therefore, high-pressure treatment could boost cAMP activity in high-pressure food processing to extend the shelf-life of food.