Short Peptide Supramolecular Hydrogels for Antimicrobial Applications

The increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to current antibiotics has posed a global threat to human health care and animal welfare. It is urgent to develop new antimicrobial agents and treatment processes that can help us to win the fight against AMR. Short antimicrobial peptides kill microbial pathogens mainly via rapid disruption to bacterial membranes. It is less likely for this mode of action to trigger resistance. Peptides can readily form hydrogels via self-assembly, enzymatic triggering, or chemical cross-linking, and their effective antimicrobial concentrations can be tuned to particular needs, thereby reducing concentration-dependent toxicity. The peptide hydrogels formed possess fibrous structures and mimic cell extracellular matrices, and they can boost host cell growth and accelerate the wound-healing process. At the same time, they can also entrap multiple antimicrobial drugs, offering unique advantages for local controlled drug delivery. Herein, in this chapter, we present an overview of the recent advances in the development of peptide hydrogels for antimicrobial applications, with particular emphasis on peptide design, hydrogelation, and rheological properties of peptide hydrogels; mode of actions against varied infectious pathogens; and key features of practical applications. In facing the challenges arising from clinical applications, the short peptide supramolecular hydrogels hold great promise as novel antibiotics due to their high antimicrobial efficacy, stimuli responsiveness, and biocompatibility.