SANS study of antimicrobial synergy from pairing of lipopeptides and antibiotics against drug-resistant bacteria

Cationic lipopeptides are amphiphilic; they self-assemble and easily bind to anionic bacterial membranes. When used as a binary mixture with antibiotics such as tetracycline (TC), they interact strongly to form new aggregates. Thus, binary lipopeptide-TC complexes may interact with bacterial membrane differently from their individual components. The broad aim of this work is to reveal how representative pairs of lipopeptide-antibiotic mixtures interact with model bacterial membranes by SANS. This work will offer important insight in lipopeptide design in combinational therapy.