Antibacterial studies of cationic polymers with alternating, random, and uniform backbones.

ABSTRACT: Antibacterial polymers have potential as pharmaceuticals and as coatings for implantation devices. The design of these materials will be optimized when we have a complete understanding of the structural features that impart activity toward target organisms and those that are benign with respect to the mammalian host. In this work, four series of polymers in which cationic and hydrophobic groups were distributed along the backbone were tested against six different bacterial species (both Gram-positive and Gram-negative) and for host cytotoxicities (red blood cell lysis). The most effective of the polymers studied are regularly spaced, featuring a 6-8 carbon stretch along the backbone between side chains that present positively charged groups. They cause potassium efflux, disorder the bacter

SUBMITTER: Song A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3117943 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature