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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

membrane depolarization, cationic steroid antibiotics, ceragenin

College

Physical and Mathematical Sciences

Department

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Abstract

The project that I have worked on this past year has been focused on a novel group of antibiotics developed in the lab of Dr. Savage. The antibiotics, called ceragenins or cationic steroid antibiotics (CSA’s), are molecules synthesized from cholic acid, a common bile acid, and they mimic the structure and functionality of antimicrobial peptides found in nature. Although the CSA’s are much smaller than the peptides, they have similar structural aspects, a hydrophobic side as well as a cationic side, and are believed to have a similar mechanism of action. They, like the antimicrobial peptides, have been found to be effective against a broad spectrum of bacteria, Gram-positive as well as Gram-negative, but with much lower required concentrations than the peptides. They have also been found to be effective against strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and some of the compounds have also been found to be active against membrane-enclosed viruses, including HIV and herpes.

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