Pathogenic bacteria infections bring about a substantial risk to human health. Given the development of antibiotic-resistance bacteria, alternative antibacterial strategies with great inactivation efficiency and bacteria-binding ability are extremely attractive. In this work, a metabolic labeling photosensitizer, prepared by the coupling of commercial IR820 and d-propargylglycine (a type of d-amino acid, DAA) via a straightforward one-step incubation (IR820-DAA), could metabolically be incorporated into the bacterial wall via enzymatic reactions, thus enhancing antibacterial efficiency. The laser energy at 808 nm could make IR820-DAA a synergistic photothermal/photodynamic agent for efficient antibacterial therapy and wound healing. Furthermore, IR820-DAA exhibits good water solubility and biological safety for clinical translation and even possesses biofilm degradation activity toward methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Overall, the proposed IR820-DAA holds great promise as a nonantibiotic tool for the treatment of bacteria-related diseases and offers a blueprint for building the precise synergistic antibacterial therapeutic platform.
Keywords: antibacterial therapy; bacterial biofilm; metabolic labeling strategy; photodynamic therapy (PDT); photothermal therapy (PTT).