Poly(2-Oxazoline)-Based Functional Peptide Mimics: Eradicating MRSA Infections and Persisters while Alleviating Antimicrobial Resistance |
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Authors: | Min Zhou Yuxin Qian Jiayang Xie Wenjing Zhang Weinan Jiang Ximian Xiao Sheng Chen Chengzhi Dai Zihao Cong Zhemin Ji Ning Shao Longqiang Liu Yuequn Wu Prof. Runhui Liu |
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Affiliation: | State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, Research Center for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237 China |
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Abstract: | Peptides have important biological functions. However, their susceptibility to proteolysis limits their applications. We demonstrated here for the first time, that poly(2-oxazoline) (POX) can work as a functional mimic of peptides. POX-based glycine pseudopeptides, a host defense peptide mimic, had potent activities against methicillin-resistant S. aureus, which causes formidable infections. The POX mimic showed potent activity against persisters that are highly resistant to antibiotics. S. aureus did not develop resistance to POX owning to the reactive oxygen species related antimicrobial mechanism. POX-treated S. aureus is sensitive to common antibiotics, demonstrating no observable antimicrobial pressure or cross-resistance in using antimicrobial POX. This study highlights POX as a new type of functional mimic of peptides and opens new avenues in designing and exploring peptide mimetics for biological functions and applications. |
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Keywords: | antibiotics antimicrobials drug design peptides polymers |
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