Synthesis Of Lysine Mimicking Antibacterial Polymers

Antibiotic resistance in bacteria is a major health care problem. Antimicrobial Peptides (amps) are efficient in killing most microbes and yet development of resistance to amps is rare due to their unique mode of action. Although amps show promising antimicrobial activities, their transition from bench to bedside has been hindered as in-vitro extraction, purification and synthesis in large scale is complicated and expensive. To overcome these issues, polymeric AMP analogs can be synthesized retaining the components necessary for antimicrobial efficacy. Herein we have developed methacrylamide based polymers with amps mimicking features possessing high antimicrobial activities with low cytotoxicity. Antibacterial assay, confocal and scanning electron microscopy studies showed synthesized polymers are effective against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria. These polymers are found to be lethal to bacteria being non cytotoxic to mammalian cells thus enhancing their potential as antibiotics.