Citation: Ziyong Li, Jinzhao Song, Qilian Wang, Yueheng Qi, Xingrui Gao, Yongliang Feng, Haining Zhang, Ying-Jun Chen, Hui Guo, Xiao-Gang Yang, Jun Yin. Near-infrared light-activated switchable antibacterial agent based on dithienylethene photoswitch[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(4): 111139. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111139 shu

Near-infrared light-activated switchable antibacterial agent based on dithienylethene photoswitch

Ziyong Li ^{a, 1,*,} ,
Jinzhao Song ^{a, 1} ,
Qilian Wang ^a ,
Yueheng Qi ^a ,
Xingrui Gao ^a ,
Yongliang Feng ^a ,
Haining Zhang ^a ,
Ying-Jun Chen ^a ,
Hui Guo ^a ,
Xiao-Gang Yang ^{a, *,} ,
Jun Yin ^{b, *,}

a.
Luoyang Key Laboratory of Organic Functional Molecules, College of Food and Drug, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Luoyang Normal University, Luoyang 471934, China
b.
National Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, International Joint Research Center for Intelligent Biosensor Technology and Health, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China

liziyong@mails.ccnu.edu.cn

yxg2233@126.com

yinj@ccnu.edu.cn

Received Date: 8 January 2025
Revised Date: 20 March 2025
Accepted Date: 24 March 2025
Available Online: 25 March 2025

Figures(5)

The photopharmacology incorporated with molecular photoswitches offers a promising solution to fundamentally address the problem of bacterial resistance, simultaneously realizes the spatiotemporal precision treatment through remote light control. However, most of reported photoswitchable drugs are limited by the need of ultraviolet (UV) light, which is often damaging and not suitable for tissue penetration. Therefore, the development of photopharmacological agents triggered by visible light, especially near-infrared (NIR) light is highly desirable for future photoswitchable antibiotics. Herein, a novel photopharmacological antibacterial agent DTE-FQ was designed and synthesized by the incorporation of dithienylethene (DTE) molecular photoswitch and fluoroquinolones (FQ) antimicrobial drug norfloxacin bridged by pyridinium group and flexible butyl chain. As expected, as-prepared DTE-FQ presents efficient photoswitching behavior in various solutions upon alternating irradiation with blue light (460–470 nm) and NIR light (730–740 nm). Simultaneously, it shows significant and reversible configurational transition by the synergistic effect of DTE photoswitch and flexible butyl chain. Most remarkably, DTE-FQ reveals an at least 4-fold difference in activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli) for ring-open and ring-closed isomers, and a distinct change in bacterial growth is observed by in situ irradiation with NIR light in the presence of E. coli. These results are further confirmed by the molecular docking to DNA gyrase. The chain-like configuration of DTE-FQ treated with NIR light, inserted between the double-stranded DNA restraining the replication of DNA. Whereas the coiled configuration obtained by blue light irradiation, remained in the vicinity of the double-stranded DNA showing weak antibacterial activity. As far as we know, it represents the first example of blue-/NIR light-triggered photopharmacological antibacterial agent based on DTE switch so far, indicating its potential for in vivo photopharmacological applications.
- Dithienylethene,
- Photochromism,
- Photopharmacology,
- Fluoroquinolones,
- Antibiotic resistance
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