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Updated: Aug 27, 2025

LED-Based In Vitro Screening for Assessing Photoactivable Molecules in Bacterial Photodynamic Inactivation
Published on: January 24, 2025
Photodynamic Inactivation of Microorganisms Using Semisynthetic Chlorophyll a Derivatives as Photosensitizers
Marciana Pierina Uliana1,2,3, Andréia da Cruz Rodrigues3, Bruno Andrade Ono1
1Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos, São Paulo CEP 13560-970, Brazil.
Abstract:
In this study, we describe the semisynthesis of cost-effective photosensitizers (PSs) derived from chlorophyll a containing different substituents and using previously described methods from the literature. We compared their structures when used in photodynamic inactivation (PDI) against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans under different conditions. The PSs containing carboxylic acids and butyl groups were highly effective against S. aureus and C. albicans following our PDI protocol. Overall, our results indicate that these nature-inspired PSs are a promising alternative to selectively inactivate microorganisms using PDI.
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