Nanofiber Peptides for Bacterial Trapping: A Novel Approach to Antibiotic Alternatives in Wound Infections

Abstract The pervasive employment of antibiotics has engendered the advent of drug‐resistant bacteria, imperiling the well‐being and health of both humans and animals. Infections precipitated by such multi‐resistant bacteria, especially those induced by methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), pervade hospital settings, constituting a grave menace to patient vitality. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have garnered considerable attention as a potent countermeasure against multidrug resistant bacteria. In preceding research endeavors, an insect‐derived antimicrobial peptide is identified that, while possessing antimicrobial attributes, manifested suboptimal efficacy against drug‐resistant Gram‐positive bacteria. To ameliorate this issue, this work enhances the antimicrobial capabilities of the initial β‐hairpin AMPs by substituting the structural sequence of the original AMPs with variant lengths of hydrophobic amino acid‐hydrophilic amino acid repeat units. Throughout this endeavor, this work has identified a number of peptides that possess highly effective antibacterial characteristics against a wide range of bacteria. Additionally, some of these peptides have the ability to self‐assemble into nanofibers, which then build networks in a distinctive manner to capture bacteria. Consequently, they represent prospective antibiotic alternatives for addressing wound infections engendered by drug‐resistant bacteria.