Synthesis of elastin based peptides conjugated to benzisoxazole as a new class of potent antimicrobials--A novel approach to enhance biocompatibility.

The peptides of elastin sequences chosen for the present study included tetrapeptides, pentapeptides and tricosapeptides (30 amino acids), synthesized by classical solution phase method and conjugated to [3-(4-piperidyl)-6-fluoro-1,2-benzisoxazole]. The structures of the compounds were confirmed by physical and spectroscopic techniques followed by the antimicrobial evaluation by both agar well diffusion and microdilution methods. Here we wish to report the effect of conjugation of these moieties which enabled us to identify a novel set of peptides conjugated to heterocycle which have exhibited more potent antimicrobial activity than the conventional drugs used. Further, conjugates of tricosamers 34 and 35 were able to inhibit the growth of fungal species at 3-5 μg/mL which is nearly 5 fold more potent than the reference drug.