title: Ultrafast Killing and Self-Gelling Antimicrobial Imidazolium Oligomers.
abstract: Infectious diseases and the increasing threat of worldwide pandemics have underscored the importance of antibiotics and hygiene. Intensive efforts have been devoted to developing new antibiotics to meet the rapidly growing demand. In particular, advancing the knowledge of the structure-property-activity relationship is critical to expedite the design and development of novel antimicrobial with the needed potential and efficacy. Herein, a series of new antimicrobial imidazolium oligomers are developed with the rational manipulation of terminal group's hydrophobicity. These materials exhibit superior activity, excellent selectivity, ultrafast killing (>99.7% killing within 30 s), and desirable self-gelling properties. Molecular dynamic simulations reveal the delicate effect of structural changes on the translocation motion across the microbial cell membrane. The energy barrier of the translocation process analyzed by free energy calculations provides clear kinetic information to suggest that the spontaneous penetration requires a very short timescale of seconds to minutes for the new imidazolium oligomers.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, 31 Biopolis Way The Nanos, Singapore, 138669, Singapore.
authors.forename: Siti Nurhanna
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Riduan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, 31 Biopolis Way The Nanos, Singapore, 138669, Singapore.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639798, Singapore.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, 31 Biopolis Way The Nanos, Singapore, 138669, Singapore.
authors.forename: Jiayu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leong
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639798, Singapore.
authors.forename: Haibin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, 31 Biopolis Way The Nanos, Singapore, 138669, Singapore.
authors.forename: Yugen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005782:Gels; D007093:Imidazoles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D005782:Gels; D007093:Imidazoles; D011108:Polymers
keywords: antimicrobial materials; cell membrane; fast-killing; molecular dynamics; self-gelling