The commercial antibiotics with inherent AIE feature: In situ visualization of antibiotic metabolism and specifically differentiation of bacterial species and broad-spectrum therapy

Bingnan Wang; Lirong Wang; Haozhong Wu; Xiaolin Liu; Jiamiao Zhu; Rong Hu; Dan Ding; Anjun Qin; Ben Zhong Tang

Bioactive Materials (May 2023)

The commercial antibiotics with inherent AIE feature: In situ visualization of antibiotic metabolism and specifically differentiation of bacterial species and broad-spectrum therapy

Bingnan Wang,
Lirong Wang,
Haozhong Wu,
Xiaolin Liu,
Jiamiao Zhu,
Rong Hu,
Dan Ding,
Anjun Qin,
Ben Zhong Tang

Affiliations

Bingnan Wang: State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Luminescence from Molecular Aggregates, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China; Center for Aggregation-Induced Emission, AIE Institute, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China
Lirong Wang: State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Luminescence from Molecular Aggregates, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China; Center for Aggregation-Induced Emission, AIE Institute, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China
Haozhong Wu: State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Luminescence from Molecular Aggregates, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China; Center for Aggregation-Induced Emission, AIE Institute, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China
Xiaolin Liu: Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Centre for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Jiamiao Zhu: State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Luminescence from Molecular Aggregates, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China; Center for Aggregation-Induced Emission, AIE Institute, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China
Rong Hu: State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Luminescence from Molecular Aggregates, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China; Center for Aggregation-Induced Emission, AIE Institute, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China
Dan Ding: State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Frontiers Science Center for Cell Responses, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
Anjun Qin: State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Luminescence from Molecular Aggregates, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China; Center for Aggregation-Induced Emission, AIE Institute, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China; Corresponding author. State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Luminescence from Molecular Aggregates, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
Ben Zhong Tang: Center for Aggregation-Induced Emission, AIE Institute, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China; School of Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Institute of Aggregate Science and Technology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518172, China; Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Centre for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China; Corresponding author. Center for Aggregation-Induced Emission, AIE Institute, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 23
pp. 223 – 233

Abstract

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The research on pharmacology usually focuses on the structure-activity relationships of drugs, such as antibiotics, to enhance their activity, but often ignores their optical properties. However, investigating the photophysical properties of drugs is of great significance because they could be used to in situ visualize their positions and help us to understand their working metabolism. In this work, we identified a class of commercialized antibiotics, such as levofloxacin, norfloxacin, and moxifloxacin (MXF) hydrochloride, featuring the unique aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics. By taking advantage of their AIE feature, antibiotic metabolism in cells could be in situ visualized, which clearly shows that the luminescent aggregates accumulate in the lysosomes. Moreover, after a structure-activity relationship study, we found an ideal site of MXF to be modified with a triphenylphosphonium and an antibiotic derivative MXF-P was prepared, which is able to specifically differentiate bacterial species after only 10 min of treatment. Moreover, MXF-P shows highly effective broad-spectrum antibacterial activity, excellent therapeutic effects and biosafety for S. aureus-infected wound recovery. Thus, this work not only discovers the multifunctionalities of the antibiotics but also provides a feasible strategy to make the commercialized drugs more powerful.

Published in Bioactive Materials

ISSN: 2452-199X (Online)
Publisher: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
Country of publisher: China
LCC subjects: Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering: Materials of engineering and construction. Mechanics of materials; Science: Biology (General)
Website: https://www.keaipublishing.com/en/journals/bioactive-materials/

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