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Novel Antimicrobial Peptides: Targeting Wound Infections Caused by ‘Superbugs’ Resistant to All Current Antibiotics

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Burns, Infections and Wound Management

Part of the book series: Recent Clinical Techniques, Results, and Research in Wounds ((RCTRRW,volume 2))

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Abstract

There is an urgent unmet medical need for new antibiotics for wound and burn infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative ‘superbugs’ Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The authors discuss the development of novel broad-spectrum lipopeptides that are very active against not only polymyxin-resistant Gram-negative pathogens but also MDR Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecium that also commonly cause serious wound infections. The authors describe MDR bacterial wound infections, mechanisms of polymyxin activity and resistance and the discovery of new polymyxin-like lipopeptides targeting MDR ‘superbugs’. These next-generation polymyxins hold significant potential for the treatment of chronic wound infections caused by problematic Gram-negative ‘superbugs’.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Tony Velkov Ph.D.

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK

    Chongyu Zhu & David M. Haddleton

  3. Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, Australia

    Jian Li

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  1. Tony Velkov Ph.D.
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  2. Chongyu Zhu
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  3. David M. Haddleton
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  4. Jian Li
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Correspondence to Tony Velkov Ph.D. .

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  1. Tustin, CA, USA

    Melvin A. Shiffman

  2. Newport Beach, CA, USA

    Mervin Low

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Velkov, T., Zhu, C., Haddleton, D.M., Li, J. (2017). Novel Antimicrobial Peptides: Targeting Wound Infections Caused by ‘Superbugs’ Resistant to All Current Antibiotics. In: Shiffman, M., Low, M. (eds) Burns, Infections and Wound Management. Recent Clinical Techniques, Results, and Research in Wounds, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/15695_2017_34

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/15695_2017_34

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