A variety of antibiotics that are clinically used today were discovered during the golden era of antibiotic discovery from the 1940s through 1960s. Decades of use and misuse of antibiotics, combined with a forty-year lull in the pipe line of antibiotics, have led to a global superbug threat that could lead human civilization to a pre-antibiotic era. While there are persistent efforts in developing antibiotics with novel modes of action to address the evolving resistance problem, one should explore approaches for the sustainable use of existing antibiotics to evade mechanisms of bacterial resistance. We have recently developed synthetic methodologies toward a class of metallopolymers that contain cationic metallocene. These charged metallopolymers exhibit synergistic effects against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria by efficiently inhibiting activity of resistant enzymes and effectively lysing bacterial cells. Various conventional β-lactam antibiotics, including penicillin-G, amoxicillin, ampicillin, and cefazolin, are protected from enzymatic hydrolysis via the formation of unique ion-pairs between their carboxylate anions and cationic metallocene moieties. This new approach could provide a therapeutic platform in revitalizing old antibiotics to treat multidrug resistant superbugs.

Sustainable use of antibiotics against MDR bacteria via charged metallopolymers

254th National Meeting (2017)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.