title: Flexicate molecules as a potential new class of antibiotics.
abstract: Helicates are α-helical, nonpeptide complexes that bind to DNA and exhibit antimicrobial activity. In the past, enthusiasm for the use of helicates in biological applications was limited, at least in part, by the presence of a racemic mixture of enantiomers or the formation of complexes that are insoluble in aqueous solutions. Recently, Howson et al. overcame the barriers associated with helicate synthesis by generating helicate-like complexes that are soluble and stable in water, optically pure and synthetically flexible. The mechanism synthesizes nonpeptide mimetic α-helical 'flexicates' that bind to DNA and show broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against representative Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial pathogens. Although the application of flexicates as an antimicrobial therapy remains to be determined, this study provides important insight into flexicate activity and the prospective use of flexicates as microbicidal agents.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 903 South 4th Street, Hamilton, MT 59840, USA.
authors.forename: Devon L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Rasmussen
authors.forename: Scott D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Frank R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: DeLeo