Lipidated Dendrimers displaying Broad Spectrum Antibacterial Activity

Mussie Gide, Alekhya Nimmagadda, Jianfeng Cai*

University of South Florida, Chemistry department

The resistance developed by the bacteria against antibiotics has become in a major concern in the health care department. Therefore, there has been a significant interest in the development of antimicrobial polymers and dendrimers due the ease of manufacture and low manufacture cost compared to small antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Herein we present the synthesis of lipidated amphiphilic dendrimers that mimic the bacterial mechanism of AMPs by disrupting the cell membrane. These dendrimers had displayed a potent antimicrobial activity against gram –positive and gram –negative bacteria.