Cassandra L. Wouters

TL;DR: It is found that BPEI synergizes the activity of β‐lactam antibiotics against MRSE and growth curves suggest that the combination of B PEI and oxacillin is bactericidal.

TL;DR: A mechanism of action in which potentiation at low concentrations of 600-Da BPEI reduces diffusion barriers from lipopolysaccharides without disrupting the outer membrane itself is demonstrated, providing new opportunities to counter the rise of multidrug resistant infections.

TL;DR: Minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) assays, crystal violetAssays, and biofilm kill curves suggest that BPEI exhibits antibiofilm activity and can potentiate β-lactams to eradicate MRSE biofilms.

TL;DR: Microtiter minimum biofilm eradication concentration models, crystal violet assays, and electron microscopy images show synergistic effects between BPEI and ampicillin as a two-step mechanism: step one is the removal of the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) to expose individual bacteria targets, and step two involves electrostatic interaction of B PEI with anionic teichoic acid in the cell wall to potentiate the antibiotic.

TL;DR: 600-Da branched polyethylenimine is able to reduce the barriers to drug influx and facilitate the uptake of a non-β-lactam co-drug, erythromycin, that targets the intracellular machinery, which enables BPEI to function as a broad-spectrum antibiotic potentiator which expands the opportunities to improve drug design, antibiotic development, and therapeutic approaches against pathogenic bacteria, especially for wound care.