Flexible electrostatic hydrogels from marine organism for nitric oxide-enhanced photodynamic therapy against multidrug-resistant bacterial infection

• Published in: Science China materials 2022, Vol.65 (10), p.2850-2860
• Main Authors: Sun, Yujie, Wen, Rong-Lai, Yu, Dan, Zhu, Yiwen, Zheng, Liang, Liu, Xiangdong, Wang, Haoran, Yu, Bingran, Xu, Fu-Jian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antibacterial materials; Antibiotics; Bacteria; Bacterial infections; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chemistry/Food Science; Chitosan; Drug resistance; Gram-negative bacteria; Hydrogels; Materials Science; Microorganisms; Nitric oxide; Photodynamic therapy
• ISSN: 2095-8226; 2199-4501
• DOI: 10.1007/s40843-022-2024-6

The abuse of antibiotics in treating microbial infections has led to the emergence and prevalence of drug-resistant bacteria. Thus, the development of novel antibacterial materials is attracting increasing attention. Here, a series of flexible electrostatic hydrogels with excellent antibacterial ability were constructed using a mixture of nitric oxide (NO)-releasing nitrated chitosan (CSNO) and mesotetra(4-carboxyphenyl)porphine (TCPP) with salmon sperm DNA (ssDNA) solution. When cultured with gram-negative bacteria under solar simulator irradiation, TCPP-CSNO m -ssDNA n hydrogels released reactive oxygen species (ROS) and NO to produce peroxynitrite ions (ONOO − ). ONOO − is efficient at killing bacteria, thereby improving the antimicrobial ability of photodynamic therapy against gram-negative bacteria. The hydrogels exhibited powerful antibacterial activity in vivo when used to treat skin infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria, making them a promising candidate for clinical applications. A string of antibacterial hydrogels that release ROS and NO synergistically can bring new possibilities for effectively killing drug-resistant bacteria and be of great value in anti-infection wound dressings and other applications.