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Non-haemolytic β-amino-acid oligomers: Antibiotics

Pathogenic bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to common antibiotics, stimulating an intensive search for new ones. Knowing that a class of medium-sized peptides (magainins 1 ) are widely used by host organisms as a defence against microbial invasion 2 , we developed a β-amino-acid oligomer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 2000-04, Vol.404 (6778), p.565-565
Main Authors: Porter, Emilie A., Wang, Xifang, Lee, Hee-Seung, Weisblum, Bernard, Gellman, Samuel H.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Pathogenic bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to common antibiotics, stimulating an intensive search for new ones. Knowing that a class of medium-sized peptides (magainins 1 ) are widely used by host organisms as a defence against microbial invasion 2 , we developed a β-amino-acid oligomer (β-peptide) that mimics these natural antibiotics and tested it for antimicrobial activity. We find not only that the activity of our β-peptide is comparable to that of a magainin derivative but also that it is effective against four bacterial species, including two pathogens that are resistant to common antibiotics.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/35007145