The conjugation of nanoparticles with antimicrobial peptides (AMP) is emerging as a promising route to achieve superior antimicrobial activity. However, the nature of peptide-nanoparticle interactions in these systems remains unclear. This study describes a system consisting of a cysteine containing antimicrobial peptide conjugated with silver nanoparticles, in which the two components exhibit a dynamic interaction resulting in a significantly enhanced stability and biological activity compared to that of the individual components. This was investigated using NMR spectroscopy in conjunction with other biophysical techniques. Using fluorescence assisted cell sorting and membrane mimics we carried out a quantitative comparison of the activity of the AMP-nanoparticle system and the free peptide. Taken together, the study provides new insights into nanoparticle-AMP interactions at a molecular level and brings out the factors that will be useful for consideration while designing new conjugates with enhanced functionality. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.