Cationic Self-Assembling Peptide Amphiphiles as Antibacterial Agents Against Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Introduction: Bacterial antibiotic resistance has become one of the biggest threats to global health. In the United States alone, at least 2 million cases of illness and 23,000 of deaths are caused by antibioticresistant bacteria annually. The overuse of antibiotics is the most important factor responsible to the development of antibiotic resistance around the world [1]. To overcome bacterial drug resistance and to reduce the use of antibiotics, many nanoscale antibacterial agents have been developed to kill bacteria by disrupting the bacterial cell membrane. In this study, we have designed and developed a type of selfassembling antibacterial peptide amphiphile that can kill drug-resistant bacteria without the use of antibiotics.