Abstract:

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been attracting much attention due to their excellent antimicrobial efficiency and low rate in driving antimicrobial resistance (AMR) which has been increasing globally to alarming levels. Conjugation of AMPs into functional polymers not only preserves excellent antimicrobial activities but reduces the toxicity and offers more functionalities, which brings new insight towards developing multifunctional biomedical materials such as hydrogels, polymer vesicles, polymer micelles, etc. These nanomaterials have been exhibiting excellent antimicrobial activity against a broad-spectrum of bacteria including multi-drug resistant (MDR) ones, high selectivity and low cytotoxicity, suggesting promising potentials in wound dressing, implant coating, anti-biofilm, tissue engineering, etc. This Perspective seeks to highlight the state-of-the-art strategy for the synthesis, self-assembly and biomedical applications of AMP-polymer conjugates and explore the promising directions for future research ranging from synthetic strategies, multistage and stimuli-responsive antibacterial activities, anti-fungi applications and potentials in elimination of inflammation during medical treatment. It also will provide perspectives on how to stem the remaining challenges and unresolved problems in combating bacteria including MDR ones.  

文章链接：Biomacromolecules 2018, 19, 1701−1720.