Infection-Targeting and Photoinduced Antibacterial Nanotherapeutic Platform for Precision Treatment of Pulmonary...

Pulmonary bacterial infections pose a serious threat to public health and are a challenging problem for conventional antibiotic treatment. Phototherapy is a potential solution, but the collateral damage to normal tissues often limits the therapeutic efficacy because of the lack of bacteria-targeting ability. In this study, a Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa)-targeted polymeric nanotherapeutic agent (pLAMA-b-pPc) containing phthalocyanine and a galactose fragment was synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer polymerization. The galactose monomer incorporated into the copolymer increased the water solubility and specificity of phthalocyanine photosensitizers. pLAMA-b-pPc can specifically adhere to the P. aeruginosa surface via Lec A in the extracellular polymeric substances and can effectively kill P. aeruginosa by near-infrared-light-induced singlet oxygen and hyperthermia without affecting normal mammalian cells. An in vivo study of the P. aeruginosa-induced pulmonary infection model shows that pLAMA-b-pPc has been concentrated at the infection site after injection of the tail vein for 5 h, which was verified by fluorescence imaging. Near-infrared light irradiation on mouse lungs could achieve accurate treatment of pulmonary bacterial infections. This work provides a targeted antibacterial treatment for nonantibiotics and accurate treatment of P. aeruginosa focal infection.