A new paper from Mariannes PhD is out! Congratulations.

Abstract

The present study describes the synthesis and biological studies of a small series of head‐to‐tail cyclic tetrapeptides of the general structure c(Lys‐β2,2‐Xaa‐Lys) containing one lipophilic β2,2‐amino acid and Lys, Gly, Ala, or Phe as the Xaa residue in the sequence. The peptides were investigated for antimicrobial activity against gram‐positive and gram‐negative reference strains and 30 multiresistant clinical isolates including strains with extended spectrum β‐lactamase—carbapenemase (ESBL‐CARBA) production. Toxicity was determined against human red blood cells. The most potent peptides showed high activity against the gram‐positive clinical isolates with minimum inhibitory concentrations of 4–8 μg/mL and low haemolytic activity. The combination of high antimicrobial activity and low toxicity shows that these cyclic tetrapeptides containing lipophilic β2,2‐amino acids form a valuable scaffold for designing novel antimicrobial agents.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/psc.3117