A Self-Assembled Nanoreactor for Realizing Antibacterial Photodynamic/Gas Therapy and Promoting Wound Healing

Among various treatments employed to solve the global problem of bacterial infection, photodynamic therapy (PDT) is recognized as a method with great potential to inactivate a wide range of bacteria without the development of drug resistance. However, many commonly used photosensitizers (PSs) have the disadvantages of poor water-solubility and potential toxicity, which limits their clinical application. Additionally, nitric oxide (NO) has unique advantages in antibacterial treatments due to its small molecular weight. Herein, protoporphyrin IX (PpIX), L-arginine (L-Arg), and glycol chitosan (GC) are used to construct a self-assembled cationic Arg-GC-PpIX nanoreactor for efficient bacterial inactivation under white light illumination. The Arg-GC-PpIX nanoreactor with excellent water dispersity and stability can rapidly bind to bacteria through electrostatic interaction and produce local singlet oxygen (¹O₂)/NO under light irradiation, leading to a high antibacterial efficiency toward both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Besides, these NPs also possess a desirable antibiofilm ability. Finally, Arg-GC-PpIX@Gel which is obtained through loading Arg-GC-PpIX into the sodium alginate (SA)/Ca²⁺ hydrogel shows a satisfactory ability to promote infected wound healing when combined with white light irradiation. Therefore, the rationally designed Arg-GC-PpIX nanoreactor with light-triggered ¹O₂/NO release is a promising antibacterial agent for achieving effective PDT/NO gas therapy.