Viewpoint Antibacterial Activity of Polymers – Discussions on the Nature of Amphiphilic Balance

We discuss the structure and activity of antibacterial peptides and polymers in the context of "amphiphilic balance" and how these concepts may be applied to some of the new and unusual structures that have been recently published. We find that the central concept of amphiphilic balance ‐ appropriately adjusting the cationic and hydrophobic nature of the polymer chains ‐ can be achieved in myriad ways. Whereas the conventional approaches typically involved pendant linear alkyl groups in the polymer side chains, some recent examples have shown that hydrophobic polymer backbones also play an important role in dictating the amphiphilic properties of the polymer chains. We believe these additional concepts expand the cannon of amphiphilic balance as a design paradigm in the field of antibacterial polymers that mimic the activity of host defense peptides.

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