An effective zinc phthalocyanine derivative against multidrug-resistant bacterial infection

Abstract

Bacterial skin and soft tissue infections are abundant worldwide. The rise in the incidence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections has made the need for alternative means of treatment more pressing. We herein report a zinc phthalocyanine derivative, pentalysine [Formula: see text]-carbonylphthalocyanine zinc (ZnPc-(Lys)[Formula: see text] and its strong capability of killing nosocomial MDR bacteria, including MDR-Escherichia coli and MDR-Acinetobacter baumannii. In vitro studies, we observed that ZnPc-(Lys)5 in micromolar concentrations killed above MDR bacteria in 6~6.5 log10 orders with only 5-min illumination of red light at a dosage of 12.75 J/cm[Formula: see text]. Further in vivo studies on a mouse infection model demonstrated that ZnPc-(Lys)5 efficiently inhibited the MDR bacterial growth after one-time photodynamic antibacterial therapy and, interestingly, significantly accelerated the wound healing. Putting together, our findings establish ZnPc-(Lys)5 as a potent antimicrobial candidate for the clinical test on localized infection.