An alpha/beta chimeric peptide molecular brush for eradicating MRSA biofilms and persister cells to mitigate antimicrobial resistance

Biomater Sci. 2020 Dec 15;8(24):6883-6889. doi: 10.1039/d0bm01211d.

Abstract

Infections involving methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus present great challenges, especially when biofilms and persister cells are involved. In this work, an α/β chimeric polypeptide molecular brush (α/β CPMB) is reported to show excellent performance in inhibiting the formation of biofilms and eradicating established biofilms. Additionally, the polymer brush efficiently killed metabolically inactive persister cells that are antibiotic-insensitive. Antimicrobial mechanism studies showed that α/β CPMB causes membrane disturbance and a substantial increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels to kill bacteria, and mesosome-like structure formation was also observed. Furthermore, the polymer brush was able to kill clinically isolated multidrug resistant Gram-positive bacteria with no risk of antimicrobial resistance. The α/β CPMB has demonstrated great potential in addressing the great challenge of eradicating multidrug resistant Gram-positive bacterial infections.

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Biofilms
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial
  • Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus*
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Peptides / pharmacology

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Peptides