Natural antimicrobial resistance has become a growing issue and is now responsible for over 80% of sepsis cases. As a result, development of new antimicrobial agents capable of curing biofilm infections is a major challenge for the global health system.<br/>To fight against biofilm infections, the research group of Pr. Andreea Schmitzer is interested in synthesizing a library of cationic amphiphilic molecules inspired by cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMP). These molecules can interact with bacterial membranes by disrupting them without inducing resistance. The scaffolding of these new antimicrobial agents consist of two positive charges carried by benzimidazolium groups, each substituted by an alkyl group and separated by a spacer. This type of structure was proposed by J. Haldar to modulate the cytotoxicity of these agents against healthy cells while retaining their antimicrobial activity.<br/>The project’s aim is to study the importance of physicochemical properties of the structure on the antimicrobial activity and selectivity. For this we varied the nature of the spacer and pendant alkyl groups.<br/>The antibiofilm activity of the compounds was assessed by experiments of MIC, MBEC and hemolysis, in order to determine the selectivity of our compounds against biofilms.

Benzimidazolium-based biofilm inhibitors: Synthesis and biological applications

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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