pH-Responsive Metal-Phenolic\nNetwork Nanoparticles\nfor Synergistic Chemo-Photodynamic Antibacterial Therapy

Abstract

The emergence of drug-resistant bacteria and their easy\nrecurrence\nhave been challenging in the clinical treatment of skin abscesses.\nTherefore, there is an urgent need to develop treatments against bacterial\ninfections. This study developed an antibacterial PDT/CDT dual-mode\ntreatment platform (Ce6/TA-Fe³⁺ NPs) to treat subcutaneous\nabscesses and promote wound healing. The Ce6/TA-Fe³⁺ NPs\ncan quickly generate ¹O₂ under illumination\nand ·OH through the Fenton reaction in the microenvironment,\nleading to the eradication of biofilms. In particular, the Ce6/TA-Fe³⁺ NPs demonstrated over 90% effectiveness in fighting Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria and successfully eliminated biofilms after being exposed\nto a 660 nm laser for 10 min. Antibacterial mechanism research showed\nthat the Ce6/TA-Fe³⁺ NPs induced a speedy rupture of the\nbacterial cell membranes, membrane lipid peroxidation, protein leakage,\ninhibition of intracellular ATP, and DNA damage based on the synergistic\neffect of PDT and CDT. Meanwhile, the Ce6/TA-Fe³⁺ NPs demonstrated\ngood biosafety to normal cells and can clear the bacteria from the\ninfected wound to promote the healing process of the infected area.\nThe experimental results <i>in</i> <i>vivo</i> demonstrated that Ce6/TA-Fe³⁺ NPs effectively treated\nskin abscesses. Therefore, this study suggested that the Ce6/TA-Fe³⁺ NPs possessed the ability to kill bacteria, eliminate biofilms,\nand effectively treat subcutaneous abscesses based on the synergistic\nmechanism of PDT and CDT, which provided the promising strategy for\nthe antibacterial medication and treatment of subcutaneous abscesses.