The emergence of antibiotic resistance in opportunistic pathogens represents a huge problem, the solution for which may be a treatment with a combination of multiple antimicrobial agents. Sodium salt of cobalt bis-dicarbollide (COSAN.Na) is one of the very stable, low-toxic, amphiphilic boron-rich sandwich complex heteroboranes. This compound has a wide range of potential applications in the biological sciences due to its antitumor, anti-HIV-1, antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity. Our study confirmed the ability of COSAN.Na (in the concentration range 0.2-2.48 μg/mL) to enhance tetracycline, erythromycin, and vancomycin action towards Staphylococcus epidermidis planktonic growth with an additive or synergistic effect (e.g., the combination of 1.24 μg/mL COSAN.Na and 6.5 μg/mL TET). The effective inhibitory concentration of antibiotics was reduced up to tenfold most efficiently in the case of tetracycline (from 65 to 6.5 μg/mL). In addition, strong effect of COSAN.Na on disruption of the cell envelopes was determined using propidium iodide uptake measurement and further confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. The combination of amphiphilic COSAN.Na with antibiotics can therefore be considered a promising way to overcome antibiotic resistance in Gram-positive cocci.

Chemistry Department Faculty of Science Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem Pasteurova 15 400 96 Ústí nad Labem Czech Republic

Department of Biotechnology University of Chemistry and Technology Prague Technická 5 166 28 Prague Czech Republic

Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences Flemingovo náměstí 542 2 166 10 Prague Czech Republic

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