title: Broad-spectrum antimicrobial supramolecular assemblies with distinctive size and shape.
abstract: With the increased prevalence of antibiotic-resistant infections, there is an urgent need for innovative antimicrobial treatments. One such area being actively explored is the use of self-assembling cationic polymers. This relatively new class of materials was inspired by biologically pervasive cationic host defense peptides. The antimicrobial action of both the synthetic polymers and naturally occurring peptides is believed to be complemented by their three-dimensional structure. In an effort to evaluate shape effects on antimicrobial materials, triblock polymers were polymerized from an assembly directing terephthalamide-bisurea core. Simple changes to this core, such as the addition of a methylene spacer, served to direct self-assembly into distinct morphologies-spheres and rods. Computational modeling also demonstrated how subtle core changes could directly alter urea stacking motifs manifesting in unique multidirectional hydrogen-bond networks despite the vast majority of material consisting of poly(lactide) (interior block) and cationic polycarbonates (exterior block). Upon testing the spherical and rod-like morphologies for antimicrobial properties, it was found that both possessed broad-spectrum activity (Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria as well as fungi) with minimal hemolysis, although only the rod-like assemblies were effective against Candida albicans.
authors.affiliation: IBM Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, California 95120, USA.
authors.forename: Kazuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukushima
authors.forename: Jeremy P K
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Korevaar
authors.forename: Yi Yan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jed
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pitera
authors.forename: Alshakim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: Hareem
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maune
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Coady
authors.forename: Jane E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Frommer
authors.forename: Amanda C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Engler
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Kaijin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Zhongkang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.forename: Weimin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Lanjuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Nikken
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wiradharma
authors.forename: E W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Meijer
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hedrick
mesh_terms: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena / Q000187:drug effects*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D005658:Fungi / Q000187:drug effects*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010316:Particle Size; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents