Chinese Journal of Applied Chemistry ›› 2021, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (5): 559-571.DOI: 10.19894/j.issn.1000-0518.210065

• Review • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research Progress on Amino Acid-Based Antimicrobial Polymers

LIU Hui1,2, LIU Xiao1,2, CAO Yuan-Qiao1,2, LIU Ming1, LIU Ya-Dong1, HAN Miao-Miao1*, JI Sheng-Xiang1,2*   

  1. 1Key Laboratory of Polymer Ecomaterials,Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, China
    2University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
  • Received:2021-02-08 Accepted:2021-03-09 Published:2021-05-01 Online:2021-07-01
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.51773201, 51973212), the Joint Program of CAS-Jilin Province(No.2019SYHZ0002), the Bureau of Science and Technology of Changchun(No.19SS005) and the Department of Science and Technology of Jilin Province(No.20200301017RQ)

Abstract: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are short peptide molecules that are produced by organisms and can inhibit or kill bacteria or fungi through non-specific interactions. However, the lack of chemical and pharmacokinetic stability and high production cost limits the clinical applications of these AMPs. Amino acid-based polymers are widely studied as an effective alternative to AMPs. This review surveys the recent progress of amino acid-based polymers as antibacterial agents. The relationship between the polymer structure, starting from specific cationic amino acid residues to more specific characteristics such as hydrophobicity, secondary structure, topological structure and self-assembly behavior, and antibacterial activities is discussed. The optimized polymer can retain broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities, low toxicity, and excellent selectivity.

Key words: Amino acid-based polymers, Lysine, Arginine, Antimicrobial, Antibacterial, Toxicity

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