Institute of Bioengineering and Bioimaging, 31 Biopolis Way, Singapore, 138669, Singapore.
Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore, 637371, Singapore.
Adv Healthc Mater. 2022 Apr;11(7):e2100482. doi: 10.1002/adhm.202100482. Epub 2021 May 14.
In this study, a series of guanidinium-functionalized polycarbonate random co-polymers is prepared from organocatalytic ring-opening polymerization to investigate the effect of the hydrophobic side chain (ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, benzyl, and hexyl) on their antimicrobial activity and selectivity. Although the polymers exhibit similar minimum inhibitory concentrations, the more hydrophobic polymers exhibit a faster rate of bacteria elimination. At higher percentage content (20 mol%), polymers with more hydrophobic side chains suffer from poor selectivity due to their high hemolytic activity. The highly hydrophobic co-polymer, containing the hydrophobic hexyl-functionalized cyclic carbonate, kills bacteria via a membrane-disruptive mechanism. Micelle formation leads to a lower extent of membrane disruption. This study unravels the effects of hydrophobic side chains on the activities of the polymers and their killing mechanism, providing insights into the design of new antimicrobial polymers.
在这项研究中，我们通过有机催化开环聚合制备了一系列胍基功能化聚碳酸酯无规共聚物，以研究疏水性侧链（乙基、丙基、异丙基、苄基和己基）对其抗菌活性和选择性的影响。尽管这些聚合物表现出相似的最低抑菌浓度，但疏水性更强的聚合物具有更快的杀菌速度。在较高的含量（20mol%）下，由于疏水性更强的聚合物具有较高的溶血活性，因此其选择性较差。含有疏水性己基功能化环状碳酸酯的高度疏水性共聚物通过破坏细胞膜的机制杀死细菌。胶束形成导致膜破坏程度降低。本研究揭示了疏水性侧链对聚合物活性及其杀菌机制的影响，为新型抗菌聚合物的设计提供了思路。
