The Membrane-Targeting Mechanism Of Host Defense Peptides Inspiring The Design Of Polypeptide-Conjugated Gold Nanoparticles Exhibiting Effective Antibacterial Activity Against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus

Multidrug-resistant bacterial infections are a grand challenge to global medical and health systems. Therefore, it is urgent to develop versatile antibacterial strategies that can combat bacterial resistance without displaying toxicity. Here, we synthesize antibacterial polypeptide-conjugated gold nanoparticles that exhibit potent antibacterial activities against clinically isolated multiple drug resistance Gram-positive bacteria, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and excellent in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility. The antibacterial mechanism study indicates that over-production of reactive oxygen species results in the killing of bacteria. The overall antibacterial performance of these polypeptide-conjugated gold nanoparticles and the convenient synthesis of these polypeptides via lithium hexamethyldisilazide-initiated fast ring-opening polymerization on alpha-amino acid N-carboxyanhydride imply the potential application of this strategy in treating bacterial infections.