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Updated: Oct 25, 2025

An In Vitro Model to Study the Effect of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid-mediated Photodynamic Therapy on Staphylococcus aureus Biofilm
Published on: April 16, 2018
Boosting the inactivation of bacterial biofilms by photodynamic targeting of matrix structures with Thioflavin T
Patricia Bondia1, Cristina Flors, Joaquim Torra
1Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies in Nanoscience (IMDEA Nanociencia), Madrid, Spain. cristina.flors@imdea.org joaquim.torra@imdea.org.
Abstract:
We report that Thioflavin T (ThT), the reference fluorogenic probe for amyloid detection, displays photodynamic activity against bacterial biofilms. ThT recognizes key structures of the biofilm matrix, disrupting the complex architecture and efficiently inactivating bacterial cells. We also show that ThT phototherapy synergistically boosts the activity of conventional antimicrobials.

