Improving the antimicrobial efficacy against resistant Staphylococcus aureus by a combined use of conjugated oligoelectrolytes.

ABSTRACT: Two membrane-intercalating conjugated oligoelectrolytes (COEs), namely COE-D8 and COE-S6, were combined to achieve enhanced antimicrobial efficacy. COE-D8 has a shorter molecular length than COE-S6 and is typical of effective antimicrobial COE molecules, presumably due to its prominent membrane disrupting function. In contrast, COE-D6 exhibits lower efficacy against bacteria and lower toxicity toward mammalian cells. Surprisingly, after supplementing 8 μM COE-S6, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of COE-D8 against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was improved 8-fold, from 0.5 μM to 0.063 μM (0.050 μg mL-1). No increased toxicity toward mammalian cells was observed by the combination of COEs, as indicated by cytotoxicity measurements using the 3T3 cell line. Indee

SUBMITTER: Bazan EL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6857938 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature