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Nature 404, 565 (6 April 2000) | doi:10.1038/35007145

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Antibiotics: Non-haemolytic bold beta-amino-acid oligomers

Emilie A. Porter1, Xifang Wang1, Hee-Seung Lee1, Bernard Weisblum2 & Samuel H. Gellman1

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Pathogenic bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to common antibiotics, stimulating an intensive search for new ones. Knowing that a class of medium-sized peptides (magainins1) are widely used by host organisms as a defence against microbial invasion2, we developed a beta-amino-acid oligomer (beta-peptide) that mimics these natural antibiotics and tested it for antimicrobial activity. We find not only that the activity of our beta-peptide is comparable to that of a magainin derivative but also that it is effective against four bacterial species, including two pathogens that are resistant to common antibiotics.