Weekly Superhero Number Two

In line with our recent superhero blog about nanobodies, we look at another hoped for superhero in the fight against superbugs.  While this hero’s name needs some public relations reworking, “peptide polymers” arose from research at the Melbourne School of Engineering.  Someone will have to do a little word crafting to describe these star shaped polymers which are doing battle with the multi-drug resistant superbugs in lab tests while they wait for live battlefield testing in animals.  So far in battle simulations they defeat the drug resistant E. coli while the E. coli have been unable to develop resistance as happens with traditional antibiotics.  When you read the article, the ingenuity of the researchers deserves recognition as we work towards victory in 2021 and beyond.

Original Article:

Shu J. Lam, Neil M. O’Brien-Simpson, Namfon Pantarat, Adrian Sulistio, Edgar H. H. Wong, Yu-Yen Chen, Jason C. Lenzo, James A. Holden, Anton Blencowe, Eric C. Reynolds, Greg G. Qiao. Combating multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria with structurally nanoengineered antimicrobial peptide polymers. Nature Microbiology, 2016; 1: 16162 DOI: 10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.162

Thanks to Science Daily:

University of Melbourne. “Killing superbugs with star-shaped polymers, not antibiotics.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 13 September 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160913115757.htm>.