Non-Amphiphilic Antimicrobial Polymers

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a severe threat to modern healthcare and must be addressed to prevent millions of deaths in the coming decades. Antimicrobial polymers (APs) do not provoke resistance 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.