Gurleen Kaur / Chemistry & Biochemistry / Faculty Mentor: Sherri McFarland
Bacterial infection has a huge impact on human health across the world. The conventional antimicrobials rely on inhibiting/blocking steps in a metabolic pathway that is crucial for the survival of bacteria. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) acquired by bacteria renders the antimicrobial drugs ineffective by either natural or acquired resistance pathways. One strategy for tackling resistant bacteria is photodynamic inactivation (PDI), which utilizes a photosensitizer (PS), light, and oxygen to destroy unwanted pathogens. The premise behind PDI is that PS activation with a certain wavelength of light will create an excited triplet state of the PS that can then sensitize cytotoxic singlet oxygen and other reactive molecular species (RMS). The use of cytotoxic singlet oxygen and RMS to inhibit/inactivate bacteria is one approach to overcoming antimicrobial resistance. Porphyrins are among the most well-studied class of PSs, but metal complexes are emerging as powerful alternatives to commonly employed tetrapyrrolic structures. The purity of these metal complexes, their activation by longer wavelengths, local delivery, and longer triplet excited lifetimes for higher singlet oxygen yields are among their many advantages. We will highlight metallodrug PSs that can inactivate/inhibit the growth of bacteria (including AMR species) upon light activation and potentially offer alternate modes of cytotoxicity.
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