Title
The antimicrobial polymer PHMB enters cells and selectively condenses bacterial chromosomes
Author
Kantaraja Chindera, Manohar Mahato, Ashwani Kumar Sharma, Harry Horsley, Klaudia Kloc-Muniak, Nor Fadhilah Kamaruzzaman, Satish Kumar, Alexander McFarlane, Jem Stach, Thomas Bentin, Liam Good
Year
2016
Journal
Scientific Reports
Abstract
To combat infection and antimicrobial resistance, it is helpful to elucidate drug mechanism(s) of action. Here we examined how the widely used antimicrobial polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) kills bacteria selectively over host cells. Contrary to the accepted model of microbial membrane disruption by PHMB, we observed cell entry into a range of bacterial species, and treated bacteria displayed cell division arrest and chromosome condensation, suggesting DNA binding as an alternative antimicrobial mechanism. A DNA-level mechanism was confirmed by observations that PHMB formed nanoparticles when mixed with isolated bacterial chromosomal DNA and its effects on growth were suppressed by pairwise combination with the DNA binding ligand Hoechst 33258. PHMB also entered mammalian cells, but was trapped within endosomes and excluded from nuclei. Therefore, PHMB displays differential access to bacterial and mammalian cellular DNA and selectively binds and condenses bacterial chromosomes. Because acquired resistance to PHMB has not been reported, selective chromosome condensation provides an unanticipated paradigm for antimicrobial action that may not succumb to resistance.
Full Article
Instrument
J-810
Keywords
Circular dichroism, Secondary structure, Ligand binding, Biochemistry, Medicinal