Research progress of the peptide-based self-assembled nanomaterials against microbial resistance

Bacterial infections, especially drug-resistant bacterial infections, are one of the greatest threats to human health. Peptides play an important role in the treatment of drug-resistant bacterial infections due to their good biocompatibility and a mechanism significantly less prone to inducing resistance. Among them, the biomimetic nanostructures prepared from peptide self-assembled nanomaterials show unique advantages in resisting infections by resistant-bacteria. Nowadays, peptide self-assembled nanomaterials have been used in the treatment of drug-resistant bacterial infections. For example, they often target at cell membranes where bacterias are less likely to develop resistance. In addition, peptide self-assembled nanomaterials have a good advantage of acting on bacterial biofilms and treating intractable bacterial infections because of their unique particle size and biological characteristics. Therefore, it is of great significance to fight against drug-resistant bacterial infections with peptide self-assembled nanomaterials consisted of different components. In this review, the secondary structure of peptides and the main nanostructures formed by peptide self-assembly were summarized. What′s more, the strategies of peptide self-assembled nanomaterials against drug-resistant bacteria were demonstrated. Finally, the prospects and remaining challenges of peptide self-assembled nanomaterials as antibacterial agents in clinical applications were introduced. Therefore, we hope to provide some references for their further applications by this minireview.