Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a severe threat to modern health care and must be addressed to prevent millions of deaths in the coming decades. Antimicrobial polymers (APs) do not provoke resistances and are promising alternatives to conventional antibiotics. Classic APs possess an amphiphilic structure (cationic and hydrophobic). Herein we question the necessity of amphiphilicity in APs and find that hydrophobicity is not an essential quality in these polymers. Combining cationic monomers with hydrophilic subunits containing hydrogen bond donors results in excellent antibacterial activity and concurrently low unspecific toxicity. Non-amphiphilic APs have the unique ability to cluster in isolated membrane regions, creating a supramolecular multivalence that enhances their membrane activity and aggregates bacterial cells. This effect, which only unfolds in the absence of hydrophobicity opens new possibilities in the design of antimicrobial materials.

中文翻译：

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非两亲性抗菌聚合物

抗微生物药物耐药性 （AMR） 是对现代医疗保健的严重威胁，必须加以解决，以防止未来几十年内数百万人死亡。抗菌聚合物 （AP） 不会引起耐药性，是传统抗生素的有前途的替代品。经典 AP 具有两亲性结构（阳离子和疏水性）。在此，我们质疑 AP 中两亲性的必要性，并发现疏水性并不是这些聚合物的基本品质。将阳离子单体与含有氢键供体的亲水亚基结合可产生优异的抗菌活性和低的非特异性毒性。非两亲性 AP 具有在孤立的膜区域中聚集的独特能力，产生超分子多价性，从而增强其膜活性并聚集细菌细胞。这种效果只有在没有疏水性的情况下才会显现，为抗菌材料的设计开辟了新的可能性。