The increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains has necessitated the synthesis of novel antibacterial agents. It was previously shown that naturally occurring metalloporphyrin hemin possesses dark antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria. To improve hemin antibacterial activity, we synthesized a number of hemin conjugates with amino acids and branched peptides. Arginine-containing hemin conjugates demonstrated high antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria including methicillin- and vancomycin-resistant strains in vitro. Most of the synthesized conjugates showed low toxicity against human erythrocytes and leukocytes.
Keywords: antibacterial activity; branched peptides; hemin; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium.
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S.