Short-chain synthetic polymers with potent efficacy against multidrug-resistant microbes
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 08:04
in Health & Medicine
As pathogenic bacteria overcome our current arsenal of antibiotic drugs, new antimicrobial therapies with fresh modes of action are needed. A set of antimicrobials based on synthetic polymers is a promising approach. These experimental therapeutics are highly effective at killing multi-drug-resistant pathogenic bacterial cells, but they have a low selectivity for their target over host tissues and are toxic to red blood cells. Now, an alternative approach to polymer design that overcomes this toxicity, while retaining the high efficacy against pathogens, has been developed by a team led by Yugen Zhang at the A*STAR Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology.