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Updated: May 24, 2026

Production and Testing of Antimicrobial Peptides and Their Mimics
Published on: April 10, 2026
Efficient synthesis and biological evaluation of proximicins A, B and C
Federico Brucoli1, Antonino Natoli, Preethi Marimuthu
1UCL School of Pharmacy, 29-39 Brunswick Square, London, WC1N 1AX, UK. federico.brucoli@pharmacy.ac.uk
Abstract:
A quick and efficient synthesis and the biological evaluation of promising antitumor-antibiotics proximicins A, B and C are reported. The characteristic repetitive unit of these molecules, the methyl 4-Boc-aminofuran-2-carboxylate 15, was prepared in three synthetic steps in good yield using an optimised copper-catalysed amidation method. The proximicins were evaluated for their antitumor activity using cellular methods. Proximicin B induced apoptosis in both Hodgkin's lymphoma and T-cell leukemia cell lines and proximicin C exhibited significantly high cytotoxicity against glioblastoma and breast carcinoma cells. The proximicins were also screened against Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis and several strains of methicillin-and multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Proximicin B showed noteworthy activity against antibiotic-resistant Gram-positive cocci.
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