Expedient Synthesis of SMAMPs via Click Chemistry.

A novel series of synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides (SMAMPs) containing triazole linkers were assembled using click chemistry. While only moderately active in buffer alone, an increase in antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli was observed when these SMAMPs were administered in the presence of mouse serum. One compound had minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 0.

Role of Amphiphilicity in the Design of Synthetic Mimics of Antimicrobial Peptides with Gram-negative Activity.

Two new series of aryl SMAMPs (synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides) with facially amphiphilic (FA) and disrupted amphiphilic (DA) topologies were designed and synthesized to directly assess the role of amphiphilicity on their antimicrobial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria in closely related structures. The FA SMAMPs displayed broad spectrum antimicrobial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative , whereas the DA SMAMPs, which contained a polar amide bond in between the hydrophobic moieties, only exhibited activity towards with increasing hydrophobicity. The integy moment (IW) was used to quantify the amphiphilicity of the SMAMPs and confirmed that it is critical for the design of SMAMPs with gram-negative activity.

Nanostructured block-random copolymers with tunable magnetic properties.

It was recently shown that block copolymers (BCPs) produced room-temperature ferromagnetic materials (RTFMs) due to their nanoscopic ordering and the cylindrical phase yielded the highest coercivity. Here, a series of metal-containing block-random copolymers composed of an alkyl-functionalized homo block (C(16)) and a random block of cobalt complex- (Co) and ferrocene-functionalized (Fe) units was synthesized via ring-opening metathesis polymerization. Taking advantage of the block-random architecture, the influence of dipolar interactions on the magnetic properties of these nanostructured BCP materials was studied by varying the molar ratio of the Co units to the Fe units, while maintaining the cylindrical phase-separated morphology.

Synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides with immunomodulatory responses.

A new series of aryl-based synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides (SMAMPs) with antimicrobial activity and selectivity have been developed via systematic tuning of the aromatic groups and charge. The addition of a pendant aromatic group improved the antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative bacteria, while the addition of charge improved the selectivity. SMAMP 4 with six charges and a naphthalene central ring demonstrated a selectivity of 200 against both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli , compared with a selectivity of 8 for the peptide MSI-78.

Room temperature magnetic materials from nanostructured diblock copolymers.

Nanostructured magnetic materials are important for many advanced applications. Consequently, new methods for their fabrication are critical. However, coupling self-assembly to the generation of magnetic materials in a simple, straight-forward manner has remained elusive.

Synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides from triaryl scaffolds.

In this report, we describe the synthesis of a new series of small amphiphilic aromatic compounds that mimic the essential properties of cationic antimicrobial peptides using Suzuki-Miyaura coupling. The new design allowed the easy tuning of the conformational restriction, controlled by introduction of intramolecular hydrogen bonds, and the overall hydrophobicity by modifications to the central ring and the side chains. This approach allowed us to better understand the influence of these features on the antimicrobial activity and selectivity.