posted on 2020-01-15, 13:34authored byMd Anisur Rahman, Moumita Sharmin Jui, Marpe Bam, Yujin Cha, Edgar Luat, Amjed Alabresm, Mitzi Nagarkatti, Alan W. Decho, Chuanbing Tang
New antimicrobial agents are needed
to address ever-increasing
antimicrobial resistance and a growing epidemic of infections caused
by multidrug resistant pathogens. We design nanostructured antimicrobial
copolymers containing multicyclic natural products that bear facial
amphiphilicity. Bile acid based macromolecular architectures of these
nanostructures can interact preferentially with bacterial membranes.
Incorporation of polyethylene glycol into the copolymers not only
improved the colloidal stability of nanostructures but also increased
the biocompatibility. This study investigated the effects of facial
amphiphilicity, polymer architectures, and self-assembled nanostructures
on antimicrobial activity. Advanced nanostructures such as spheres,
vesicles, and rod-shaped aggregates are formed in water from the facial
amphiphilic cationic copolymers via supramolecular interactions. These
aggregates were particularly interactive toward Gram-positive and
Gram-negative bacterial cell membranes and showed low hemolysis against
mammalian cells.