Biohybrid Polymer-Antimicrobial Peptide Medium against Enterococcus faecalis

Lea H. Eckhard, Asaf Sol, Ester Abtew, Yechiel Shai, Abraham J. Domb, Gilad Bachrach, Nurit Beyth

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are conserved evolutionary components of the innate immune system that are being tested as alternatives to antibiotics. Slow release of AMPs using biodegradable polymers can be advantageous in maintaining high peptide levels for topical treatment, especially in the oral environment in which dosage retention is challenged by drug dilution with saliva flow and by drug inactivation by salivary enzymatic activity. Enterococcus faecalis is a multidrug resistant nosocomial pathogen and a persistent pathogen in root canal infections. In this study, four ultra-short lipopeptides (C16- KGGK, C16-KLLK, C16-KAAK and C16-KKK) and an amphipathic a-helical antimicrobial peptide (Amp-1D) were tested against E. faecalis. The antibacterial effect was determined against planktonic bacteria and bacteria grown in biofilm. Of the five tested AMPs, C16-KGGK was the most effective. Next C16-KGGK was formulated with one of two polymers poly (lactic acid co castor oil) (DLLA) or ricinoleic acid-based poly (ester-anhydride) P(SA-RA). Peptide-synthetic polymer conjugates, also referred to as biohybrid mediums were tested for antibacterial activity against E. faecalis grown in suspension and in biofilms. The new formulations exhibited strong and improved anti- E. faecalis activity.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere109413
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume9
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2014

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Eckhard et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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