Linking molecular architecture to antibacterial functions: a chemical biology view of cyclic depsipeptides

Antimicrobial depsipeptides and cyclodepsipeptides represent a structurally diverse class of natural products that have gained renewed attention as both antibacterial agents and molecular tools to interrogate bacterial physiology. Characterized by the incorporation of ester linkages within macrocyclic peptide frameworks, these molecules exhibit unique conformational properties that underpin distinct modes of action including lipid II recognition, membrane perturbation, and enzyme modulation. Thi