A self-regulated phototheranostic nanosystem with single wavelength-triggered energy switching and oxygen supply for multimodal synergistic therapy of bacterial biofilm infections

The exploration of antibiotic-independent phototherapy strategies for the treatment of bacterial biofilm infections has gained significant attention.However,efficient eradication of bacterial biofilms remains a challenge.Herein,a self-regulated pho-totheranostic nanosystem with single wavelength-triggered photothermal therapy(PTT)/photodynamic therapy(PDT)transformation and oxygen supply for multi-modal synergistic therapy of bacterial biofilm infections is presented.This approach combines a eutectic mixture of natural phase-change materials(PCMs)and an aggregation-induced emission(AIE)phototheranostic agent TPA-ICN to form col-loidally stable nanopartcicles(i.e.AIE@PCM NPs).The reversible solid-liquid phase transition of PCMs facilitates the adaptive regulation of the aggregation states of TPA-ICN,enabling a switch between the energy dissipation pathways for enhanced PDT in solid PCMs or enhanced PTT in liquid PCMs.Addition-ally,oxygen-carrying thermoresponsive nanoparticles are also introduced to alleviate the hypoxic microenvironment of biofilms by releasing oxygen upon heating by AIE@PCM NPs with enhanced PTT.The nanosystem exhibits outstanding therapeu-tic efficacy against bacterial biofilms both in vitro and in vivo,with an antibacterial efficiency of 99.99%.This study utilizes a self-regulated theranostic nanoplatform with adaptive PTT/PDT transformation via the phase transition of PCMs and heat-triggered oxygen release,holding great promise in the safe and efficient treatment of bacterial biofilm infections.

Photodynamic patterning of living bacterial biofilms with high resolutions for information encryption and antibiotic screening

Controlling the growth of bacterial biofilms in a specific pattern greatly enhances the study of cell-to-cell interactions and paves the way for expanding their biolog-ical applications.However,the development of simple,cost-effective,and highly resolved biopatterning approaches remains a persistent challenge.Herein,a pio-neering photodynamic biopatterning technique for the creation of living bacterial biofilms with customized geometries at high resolutions is presented.First of all,an outstanding aggregation-induced emission photosensitizer is synthesized to enable efficient photodynamic bacterial killing at a low concentration.By combining with custom-designed photomasks featuring both opaque and transparent patterns,the viability of photosensitizer-coated bacteria is successfully manipulated by control-ling the degree of light transmittance.This process leads to the formation of living bacterial biofilms with specific patterns replicated from the photomask.Such an innovative strategy can be employed to generate living bacterial biofilms composed of either mono-or multispecies,with a spatial resolution of approximately 24µm.Furthermore,its potential applications in information storage/encryption and antibi-otic screening are explored.This study provides an alternative way to understand and investigate the intricate interactions among bacteria within 3D biofilms,hold-ing great promise in the controlled fabrication of dynamic biological systems for advanced applications.