Figure 6.

Inhibition of antimicrobial activity of peptides by trypsin and chymotrypsin assessed using the broth microdilution method: peptides at their respective minimum inhibitory concentrations were preincubated with trypsin and chymotrypsin for 6 h, and the treated peptides were examined for their antimicrobial activity against (A) E. coli and (B) A. baumannii for 16 h. Inhibited bacterial growth signifies the proteolytic stability of peptides. Data are shown as the mean ± SEM of three independent experiments and are statistically significant at * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, and *** p < 0.001; ns, not significant (by one-way ANOVA, Tukey’s post hoc test).