Professor Liu Runhui’s research group from the School of Materials Science and Engineering recently reported a novel strategy for designing host defense peptide-mimicking prodrugs activated specifically at infection sites. The developed antibacterial prodrugs effectively treat infections caused by drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. This research article, titled “A host defense peptide-mimicking prodrug activated by drug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections”, was published in the authoritative journal Science Translational Medicine and selected as the cover article for that issue (Sci. Transl. Med.2025, DOI:10.1126/scitranslmed.adl4870).

This article is co-first authored by Xie Jiayang, a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Materials Science and Engineering, and Associate Researcher Zhou Min, and corresponding authored by Professor Liu Runhui. The research received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).