01/02/2025.
MOF-Enhanced Phototherapeutic Wound Dressings Against Drug-Resistant Bacteria
Abstract
Phototherapy is a low-risk alternative to traditional antibiotics againstdrug-resistant bacterial infections. However, optimizing phototherapy agents,refining treatment conditions, and addressing misuse of agents, remain aformidable challenge. This study introduces a novel concept leveraging theunique customizability of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) to housesize-matched dye molecules in “single rooms”. The mesoporous iron(III)carboxylate nanoMOF, MIL-100(Fe), and the hydrophobic heptamethinecyanine photothermal dye (Cy7), IR775, are selected as model systems. Theircombination is predicted to minimize dye–dye interactions, leading toexceptional photostability and efficient light-to-heat conversion. Furthermore,MIL-100(Fe) preserves the antimicrobial nature of hydrophobic IR775,enabling it to disrupt bacterial cell envelopes. Through electrospinning,MIL-100(Fe)@IR775 nanoparticles are shaped into a gelatin-based filmdressing for the treatment of skin wounds infected by Methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Activation of the dressing requires only aportable near-infrared light-emitting diode (NIR LED) and induces bothlow-dose photodynamic therapy (LPDT) and mild-temperature photothermaltherapy (MPTT). Combined with the antimicrobial properties of IR775 andferroptosis-like lipid peroxidation induced by MIL-100(Fe), the photoactivedressing eradicates MRSA and the healing is as quick as the uninfectedwounds. This safe, cost effective, and multifunctional therapeutic wounddressing offers a promising solution to overcome the current bottleneck inphototherapy.