ANTIMICROBIAL ACTION OF ε-POLY-L-LYSINE

The antimicrobial spectrum of ε-poly-L-lysine (n=25-30, ε-PL) was investigated by comparison with α-poly-L-lysine (n=50, α-PL). ε-PL showed antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and-negative bacteria at concentrations of 1-8μg/ml. α-PL was less active than ε-PL A chain length of at least 10 L...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of antibiotics 1984, Vol.37(11), pp.1449-1455
Main Authors: SHIMA, SHOJI, MATSUOKA, HIROYOSHI, IWAMOTO, TOSHIRO, SAKAI, HEIICHI
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The antimicrobial spectrum of ε-poly-L-lysine (n=25-30, ε-PL) was investigated by comparison with α-poly-L-lysine (n=50, α-PL). ε-PL showed antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and-negative bacteria at concentrations of 1-8μg/ml. α-PL was less active than ε-PL A chain length of at least 10 L-lysine monomers was found to be optimum for antimicrobial activity. Chemical modification of the amino groups of ε-PL lowered its antibacterial activity. Studies on the mode of action of ε-PL suggest that adsorption of ε-PL to the bacterial cell surface plays an important role in its antibacterial activity.
ISSN:0021-8820
1881-1469
DOI:10.7164/antibiotics.37.1449