Gurleen Kaur / Chemistry & Biochemistry / Faculty Mentor: Sherri McFarland
Photodynamic inactivation (PDI) is a strategy for tackling bacterial infections by exploiting light-molecule interactions. Conventional antimicrobials work by blocking steps in a metabolic pathway that are crucial for the survival of pathogens. Over time bacteria can evolve to mount resistance against these mechanisms, rendering the antibiotics ineffective. Therefore, it is advantageous to have complementary approaches in our arsenal against antibiotic resistant bacteria. PDI utilizes an otherwise nontoxic drug, called a photosensitizer (PS), which can be activated with light in the presence of oxygen to become a powerful antibacterial agent. The premise behind PDI is that PS activation with a certain wavelength of light creates an excited triplet state of the PS that can then sensitize primarily cytotoxic singlet oxygen but also other reactive molecular species (RMS). The immediate burst of relatively nonspecific RMS offers a way to treat bacteria that have already developed resistance to traditional antibiotics. We are investigating certain metal complex classes as PDI agents against some of the most resistant bacteria. This presentation will highlight metal-based PSs as potential light-responsive antimicrobials that offer alternate modes of cytotoxicity.
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