Biofilm heterogeneity-adaptive photoredox catalysis enables red light-triggered nitric oxide release for combating drug-resistant infections.

The formation of biofilms is closely associated with persistent and chronic infections, and physiological heterogeneity such as pH and oxygen gradients renders biofilms highly resistant to conventional antibiotics. To date, effectively treating biofilm infections remains a significant challenge. Herein, we report the fabrication of micellar nanoparticles adapted to heterogeneous biofilm microenvironments, enabling nitric oxide (NO) release through two distinct photoredox catalysis mechanisms. The key design feature involves the use of tertiary amine (TA) moieties, which function as sacrificial agents to avoid the quenching of photocatalysts under normoxic and neutral pH conditions and proton acceptors at acidic pH to allow deep biofilm penetration. This biofilm-adaptive NO-releasing platform shows excellent antibiofilm activity against ciprofloxacin-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA) biofilms both in vitro and in a mouse skin infection model, providing a strategy for combating biofilm heterogeneity and biofilm-related infections.

Red Light-Triggered Intracellular Carbon Monoxide Release Enables Selective Eradication of MRSA Infection.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an important gaseous signaling molecule. The use of CO-releasing molecules such as metal carbonyls enables the elucidation of the pleiotropic functions of CO. Although metal carbonyls show a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, it remains unclear whether the bactericidal property originates from the transition metals or the released CO. Here, we develop nonmetallic CO-releasing micelles via a photooxygenation mechanism of 3-hydroxyflavone derivatives, enabling CO release under red light irradiation (e.g., 650 nm). Unlike metal carbonyls that non-specifically internalize into both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, the nonmetallic micelles are selectively taken up by S. aureus instead of E. coli cells, exerting a selective bactericidal effect. Further, we demonstrate that the CO-releasing micelles can cure methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA)-infected wounds, simultaneously eradicating MRSA pathogens and accelerating wound healing.

Crystallization Behaviours of Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) Nanocomposites with MoS2 Nanosheets with Different Surface Functional Groups.

The crystallization behaviours of amorphous poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanocompositesmodified with two different kinds of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) at different filler loadings were investigated in detail in this work. The crystallinity, melting temperature and crystallization temperature of the PVDF/MoS2 nanocomposites were transformed from α-phase to ß-phase with the addition of MoS2, MoS2-COOH and MoS2-NH2. During isothermal cold crystallization, the overall crystallization rate of PVDF was slowed with increased MoS2 loading relative to that of neat PVDF. Moreover, the crystallization temperature of the PVDF nanocomposites increased with the addition of MoS2 despite the cooling rate during nonisothermal cold crystallization. DMA tests showed that the storage modulus of PVDF was decreased with the addition of MoS2, while those of PVDF/MoS2-COOH and PVDF/MoS2-NH2 were enhanced to different degrees. The decomposition of the PVDF/MoS2 nanocomposites were also discussed. Relative to neat PVDF, the thermal stability of PVDF was obviously improved with the addition of MoS2, MoS2-COOH and MoS2-NH2, which could be ascribed to the increased degree of crystallinity.