Synergistic Co-Delivery of Membrane-Disrupting Polymers with Commercial Antibiotics against Highly Opportunistic Bacteria

A series of vitamin E-containing biodegradable antimicrobial cationic polycarbonates is designed and synthesized via controlled organocatalytic ring-opening polymerization. The incorporation of vitamin E significantly enhances antimicrobial activity. These polymers demonstrate broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against various microbes, e.g., S. aureus (Gram-positive), E-coli (Gram-negative) and C. albicans (fungi). More importantly, the co-delivery of such polymers with selected antibiotics (e.g., doxycycline) shows high synergism towards difficult-to-kill bacteria P. aeruginosa. These findings suggest that these vitamin E-functionalized polycarbonates are potentially useful antimicrobial agents against challenging bacterial/fungal infections. As a service to our authors and readers, this journal provides supporting information supplied by the authors. Such materials are peer reviewed and may be re-organized for online delivery, but are not copy-edited or typeset. Technical support issues arising from supporting information (other than missing files) should be addressed to the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.