Antimicrobial peptides: Structure, mechanism, and modification

• Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are promising candidates for new antibacterial agents . • Activity, stability, toxicity, and cost impede the clinical adoption of AMPs. • Non-natural building blocks improve the stability of AMPs to enzymatic. • The deletion and substitution strategies help to reduce the cost of AMPs. • The amphiphilicity and cationic nature of AMPs affect the antibacterial activity .