The Use of Antimicrobial Cyclic Peptide Amphiphiles Against Bacterial Infections

One of the biggest issues in modern day clinical treatment of bacterial infections is the high rate of antibiotic resistivity exhibited by many microbe species. Some of the more commonly known drug resistant pathogens include Actinobacter, Candida auris, Enterococci, Pseudomonas, and Staphylococcus. These types of drug-resistant infections lead to approximately 36,000 deaths in the United States each year. In recent research, cyclic and linear peptide amphiphiles have shown great potential in serving as an alternative source for treating antibiotic resistant diseases. These peptides exhibit amphiphilic properties via charged amino acid sequences and hydrophobic, fatty-acid tails. These unique properties allow them to penetrate bacterial membranes and transport antibiotic materials within the cell to cause pathogen death. The proposed research project will design, synthesize, and investigate the efficacy of various cyclic peptides against multi-drug resistant strains such as Pseudomonas, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus, and Candida