title: Bacterial membranes as predictors of antimicrobial potency.
abstract: A wide range of chemical structures having antimicrobial activity have been studied in an effort to treat the increasing emergence of bacteria that are resistant to traditional antibiotics. These agents have varying degrees of toxicity against different bacterial species. We demonstrate, using members of a novel class of antimicrobial agents, the oligomers of acyllysine, that one cause for the difference in species selectivity is the ability to induce the clustering of anionic lipids, resulting in their segregation into domains. This phenomenon occurs only in bacterial membranes composed of both anionic and zwitterionic lipids and not with bacteria whose membrane lipids are largely anionic. As a consequence it can be predicted which bacterial species will be most affected by antimicrobial agents that function principally by this mechanism. This finding allows for the design of new antibiotics with selective toxicity against different groups of bacteria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3Z5, Canada. epand@mcmaster.ca
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Epand
authors.forename: Shahar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rotem
authors.forename: Amram
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mor
authors.forename: Bob
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Berno
authors.forename: Raquel F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Epand
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000187:drug effects; D002151:Calorimetry / Q000379:methods; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000187:drug effects; D002942:Circular Dichroism / Q000379:methods; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry; D008239:Lysine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015394:Molecular Structure; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012015:Reference Standards; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008239:Lysine