This spotlight on application provides a brief overview of our research exploration, focusing on the research of small molecules with membrane-active antibacterial activity that mimic host-defense peptides (HDPs). The development of antimicrobial HDP agents is an emerging research area as they circumvent the potential disadvantages of HDPs. The small molecules are preferable for development due to their low production cost and potential of more practical applications. In recent years, we conducted research on the design of antibacterial agents based on small molecules including hydantoins, acylated reduced amides, biscyclic guanidines, and dimeric alkylamides of lysines. We herein sketch our journey on the exploration of the antimicrobial activity of these few classes of molecules and hopefully share our insight in the future design of small-molecular-weight antibiotic agents with membrane-active activity that mimic HDPs.

中文翻译：

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具有膜活性抗菌活性的小分子。

该应用亮点简要概述了我们的研究进展，重点是具有膜活性抗菌活性且模仿宿主防御肽（HDP）的小分子的研究。抗菌HDP试剂的开发是新兴的研究领域，因为它们规避了HDP的潜在缺点。小分子由于其低的生产成本和更实际的应用潜力而优选用于开发。近年来，我们进行了基于小分子的抗菌剂设计研究，这些分子包括乙内酰脲，酰化还原酰胺，双环胍和赖氨酸的二聚烷基酰胺。