Monomer and Oligomer Transition of Zinc Phthalocyanine Is Key for Photobleaching in Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is recognized as a powerful method to inactivate cells. However, the photosensitizer (PS), a key component of PDT, has suffered from undesired photobleaching. Photobleaching reduces reactive oxygen species (ROS) yields, leading to the compromise of and even the loss of the photodynamic effect of the PS. Therefore, much effort has been devoted to minimizing photobleaching in order to ensure that there is no loss of photodynamic efficacy. Here, we report that a type of PS aggregate showed neither photobleaching nor photodynamic action. Upon direct contact with bacteria, the PS aggregate was found to fall apart into PS monomers and thus possessed photodynamic inactivation against bacteria. Interestingly, the disassembly of the bound PS aggregate in the presence of bacteria was intensified by illumination, generating more PS monomers and leading to an enhanced antibacterial photodynamic effect. This demonstrated that on a bacterial surface, the PS aggregate photo-inactivated bacteria via PS monomer during irradiation, where the photodynamic efficiency was retained without photobleaching. Further mechanistic studies showed that PS monomers disrupted bacterial membranes and affected the expression of genes related to cell wall synthesis, bacterial membrane integrity, and oxidative stress. The results obtained here are applicable to other types of PSs in PDT.

Conjugation of Antimicrobial Peptide to Zinc Phthalocyanine for an Efficient Photodynamic Antimicrobial Chemotherapy

Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy is an attractive and novel therapeutic approach to treat microbial infections. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have the potential to specifically target and kill the microorganism while showing no effect toward mammalian cells. In the current study, antimicrobial peptide (GGG(RW)3), an analogue of MP-196, was conjugated to a zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) photosensitizer (PS) for photoinactivation assay to enhance the bacterial killing efficacy of the peptide. The AMPs showed selectivity toward the Gram-positive strain of bacteria. We observed that the conjugate ZnPc-GGG(RW)3 also displayed a photoinactivation effect against the Gram-positive strains of S. aureus. The results showed that ZnPc-GGG(RW)3 induced a 6-log reduction (i.e., 99.999% cell killing) in Gram-positive S. aureus at a light dose of 22 J/cm2 upon illumination under red light, while the peptide did not exhibit such a significant effect when tested alone at the same concentration. The conjugate also showed 50% inhibition of the bacterial strain in the dark at a higher concentration. Furthermore, the addition of potassium iodide salt to the PS at lower concentrations also significantly killed the Gram-negative E. coli strain and killed the E. coli strain with up to a 5-log reduction at a light dose of 22 J/cm2 under red light illumination. We demonstrated the efficacy of antimicrobial peptide (GGG(RW)3 enhanced by conjugation to a ZnPc photosensitizer.

Expanding the applications of photodynamic therapy-tooth bleaching

OBJECTIVES

The current tooth bleaching materials are associated with adverse effect. Photodynamic method based on a novel photosensitizer alone, without combining with peroxides, is evaluated for tooth bleaching application.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Teeth samples were randomly divided into 3 groups with different treatment schemes, including negative control group (group A, physiological saline), experimental group (group B, ZnPc(Lys)5), and the positive control group (group C, hydrogen peroxide). Tooth color, surface microhardness, and roughness were determined at baseline, right after the first and second phase of bleaching, as well as 1 week and 1 month post-bleaching. Four samples in each group was randomly selected to evaluate the changes in surface morphology using the scanning electron microscope.

RESULTS

The color change values (ΔE) in group B (7.10 ± 1.03) and C (12.22 ± 2.35) were significantly higher than that in group A (0.93 ± 0.30, P < 0.05). Additionally, surface microhardness and roughness were significantly affected in group C, but not in the group A and B. Furthermore, the scanning electron microscope images showed no adverse effect of enamel in the group A and B while the group C demonstrated corrosive changes.

CONCLUSIONS

ZnPc(Lys)5 had a satisfactory bleaching effect and is promising to be a new type of tooth bleaching agent.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

The current tooth bleaching materials give a satisfactory clinical outcome and long-term stability, but associated with some adverse reactions. Photosenstizer ZnPc(Lys)5 eliminated the main side effects observed in hydrogen peroxide-based agents on the enamel, and also had a satisfactory bleaching effect and provide a novel selective bleaching scheme for clinical use.

Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy against Acinetobacter baumannii

Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) has emerged as a pathogen of global importance able to cause opportunistic infections on the skin, urinary tract, lungs, and bloodstream, being frequently involved in hospital outbreaks. Such bacterium can resist a variety of environmental conditions and develop resistance to different classes of antibiotics. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) has been considered a promising approach to overcome bacterial resistance once it does not cause selective environmental pressure on bacteria. In this review, studies on aPDT were accessed on PubMed, and their findings were summarized regarding its efficacy against A. baumannii. The data obtained from the literature show that exogenous photosensitizers belonging to different chemical classes are effective against multidrug-resistant A. baumannii strains. However, most of such data is from in vitro studies, and additional studies are necessary to evaluate if the exogenous photosensitizers may induce selective pressure on A. baumannii and the effectiveness of such photosensitizers in clinical practice.

The Role of Porphyrinoid Photosensitizers for Skin Wound Healing

Microorganisms, usually bacteria and fungi, grow and spread in skin wounds, causing infections. These infections trigger the immune system and cause inflammation and tissue damage within the skin or wound, slowing down the healing process. The use of photodynamic therapy (PDT) to eradicate microorganisms has been regarded as a promising alternative to anti-infective therapies, such as those based on antibiotics, and more recently, is being considered for skin wound-healing, namely for infected wounds. Among the several molecules exploited as photosensitizers (PS), porphyrinoids exhibit suitable features for achieving those goals efficiently. The capability that these macrocycles display to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) gives a significant contribution to the regenerative process. ROS are responsible for avoiding the development of infections by inactivating microorganisms such as bacteria but also by promoting cell proliferation through the activation of stem cells which regulates inflammatory factors and collagen remodeling. The PS can act solo or combined with several materials, such as polymers, hydrogels, nanotubes, or metal-organic frameworks (MOF), keeping both the microbial photoinactivation and healing/regenerative processes' effectiveness. This review highlights the developments on the combination of PDT approach and skin wound healing using natural and synthetic porphyrinoids, such as porphyrins, chlorins and phthalocyanines, as PS, as well as the prodrug 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), the natural precursor of protoporphyrin-IX (PP-IX).

Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy against Staphylococcus aureus using zinc phthalocyanine and zinc phthalocyanine-integrated TiO2 nanoparticles

Antibiotic resistance is an increasing healthcare problem worldwide. In the present study, the effects of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (APDT) of ZnPc and ZnPc-integrated TiO2 nanoparticles (ZnPc-TiO[Formula: see text] were investigated against Staphylococcus aureus. A light emitting diode (LED) (630–700 nm, 17.4 mW/cm[Formula: see text] was used on S. aureus at different light doses (8 J/cm2 for 11 min, 16 J/cm2 for 22 min, 24 J/cm2 for 33 min) in the presence of the compounds under the minimum inhibitory concentration values. Both compounds showed similar phototoxicity toward S. aureus when high light doses (16 and 24 J/cm[Formula: see text] were applied. In addition, the success of APDT increased with an increasing light dose.

Near-infrared-triggered antibacterial and antifungal photodynamic therapy based on lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles

An alarming worldwide increase in microbial resistance to traditional drugs and classical pharmacophores has spurred the search for new antimicrobial compounds. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) has recently emerged as an effective modality for the selective destruction of bacteria and other pathogenic microorganisms. However, some of the factors, including the aggregation of the hydrophobic photosensitizer (PS) in aqueous media and the inefficient biodistribution of PS limit its expansion to clinical conditions. In addition, the photoactivation under visible-light irradiation limits the therapeutic effect of aPDT for deep-tissue infection. To overcome these limitations, a PS (β-carboxyphthalocyanine zinc, CPZ) delivery system with lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs, LiYF4:Yb/Er) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was prepared and its antimicrobial (antibacterial and antifungal) activities were investigated. Such a near-infrared (NIR) triggered UCNPs-CPZ-PVP system significantly reduced the aggregation of CPZ and presented a high anti-infectious activity against multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by 4.7 log10 and MDR Escherichia coli by 2.1 log10) post aPDT (at 50 μg mL-1 UCNPs-CPZ-PVP with 0.5 W cm-2 980 nm light). In particular, UCNPs-CPZ-PVP showed high antifungal efficacy against Candida albicans. In vivo aPDT experiments were further carried out using an MDR bacterial infection murine model in the presence of 5 mm thick tissue specimens, demonstrating the great potential of UCNPs-CPZ-PVP against infections in deep tissue. Altogether, we reveal an efficient NIR-triggered nano-photosensitizer with promising antifungal and antibacterial efficacy for clinical antimicrobial therapy.

Dissociation of zinc phthalocyanine aggregation on bacterial surface is key for photodynamic antimicrobial effect

Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) is an effective mean for killing bacteria in this era of increasing multi-antibiotic resistance, and possesses a number of unique advantages. Much effort has been devoted to the development a key component of aPDT photosensitizers (PSs). We synthesized a series of PSs with different positive charges (ZnPc(Lys)[Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] 3, 5, 7, and studied their antibacterial activities and mechanisms against Escherichia coli (E. coli). Interestingly, the ZnPc(Lys)[Formula: see text] derivative showed stronger antibacterial effect (MIC = 25.3 [Formula: see text]M) than the other two PSs (MICs = 50.6 [Formula: see text]M), even though this PS did not have the highest uptake on bacteria among these PSs. It was ZnPc(Lys)[Formula: see text] that possessed the highest bacterial uptake. ZnPc(Lys)[Formula: see text] was found to have the highest monomeric fractions (62.0%) on bacteria surface than the other two PSs (37.9% for [Formula: see text] 3 and 33.9% [Formula: see text] = 7). These results clearly demonstrate that PS conformation on bacterial surface as a key parameter determining antibacterial efficacy of PSs. Other mechanistic aspects of photodynamic effects, including PS binding kinetics, bacterial surface hydrophobicity, zeta potential of bacteria, membrane permeability and bacterial signaling pathways were also studied.

Household light source for potent photo-dynamic antimicrobial effect and wound healing in an infective animal model

Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) is considered a promising alternative to conventional antibiotic approach. We have previously developed a novel PS containing five lysine amino acids, pentalysine-β-carbonylphthalocyanine Zinc (ZnPc(Lys)₅), which in the presence of light, is highly toxic against a range of bacterial strains, including hospital isolated, drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. Here, we study the effect of light fluence of the two light sources on the PACT potency of ZnPc(Lys)₅. We observed that an exposure of E.coli to a red LED light for only 2 seconds (light fluence of 0.15 J/cm²) in the presence of ZnPc(Lys)₅ significantly eradicated 80% of the E.coli. We further demonstrated that a light fluence of 4.5 J/cm² from a household light source induced a noticeable photodynamic effect in vitro and in vivo animal model. This study points to a new research direction of reducing light illumination time by increasing potency of PS.