RESUMEN
The challenge of antibiotic resistance worldwide has brought an urgent need to explore novel drugs for bacterial infections. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy has been proven to be a potential antimicrobial modality but is limited by biofilms. In this study, we synthesized three cationic photosensitizers with strong photoinduced antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities toward gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. The indole-pyridine compounds illustrated multiple type I/II photosensitization and coenzyme NAD(P)H photocatalytic activity upon excitation. A mechanistic study showed that intracellular reactive oxygen generation and NAD(P)H oxidation caused membrane damage, leading to protein/nucleus acid leakage. This research provides insights into the development of novel chemotherapeutics with synergetic photodynamic and photocatalytic reactivity.