Porphyrin Alternating Copolymer Vesicles for Photothermal Drug-Resistant Bacterial Ablation and Wound Disinfection

In the past two decades, polymer vesicles have aroused widespread interest and made significant developments. However, the applications of polymer vesicles in anti-infective therapy are still limited. Here, we construct a polymer vesicle (TPPBV) from a porphyrin alternating copolymer P(TPP-a-BDE) with a high photothermal conversion efficiency (54.1%), which is attributed to the unique chain-folding mechanisms of the alternating copolymer. In particular, TPPBVs exhibit great photothermal antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Gram-negative extended-spectrum β-lactamases Escherichia coli (ESBL E. coli). Moreover, TPPBVs present a specific antibiofilm effect, and they also have remarkable therapeutic effects in vivo on an MRSA-infected mice model. We believe that the porphyrin alternating copolymer vesicles for photothermal bacterial ablation reported here will extend the applications of polymer vesicles.