Chemistry Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Winter 2-6-2017
Journal
Biomacromolecules
Volume
18
Issue
3
First Page
914
Last Page
923
URL with Digital Object Identifier
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.6b01785
Abstract
New approaches to treat bacterial infections are badly needed to address the increasing problem of antibiotic resistance. This study explores phosphonium-functionalized block copolymer micelles as intrinsically antibacterial polymer assemblies. Phosphonium cations with varying alkyl lengths were conjugated to the terminus of a poly(ethylene oxide)− polycaprolactone block copolymer, and the phosphonium-functionalized block copolymers were self-assembled to form micelles in aqueous solution. The size, morphology, and ζ -potential of the assemblies were studied, and their abilities to kill Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were evaluated. It was found that the minimum bactericidal concentration depended on the phosphonium alkyl chain length, and different trends were observed for Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The most active assemblies exhibited no hemolysis of red blood cells above the bactericidal concentrations, indicating that they can selectively disrupt the membranes of bacteria. Furthermore, it was possible to encapsulate and release the antibiotic tetracycline using the assemblies, providing a potential multimechanistic approach to bacterial killing.
Notes
This is the author-accepted version article of an article published by Biomacromolecules. The final published version can be found at https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.6b01785