文摘
The development of antibiotics with new modes of action and specificity are necessary with the emergence of multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) affords reactive oxygen species, which generally overcomes the conventional bacterial resistance mechanisms, but typical aPDT agents do not strongly associate with Gram-negative bacteria. However, by covalently coupling a Ru-based chromophore with a cis-PtCl2 bioactive site, covalent interactions with the cell at the Pt moiety provides localization of the singlet oxygen generating chromophore. Reported here is the photoinhibition and photocytotoxicity of Escherichia coli, using the mixed-metal complex [Ru(Ph2phen)2(dpp)PtCl2]2+ (Ph2phen = 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline and dpp = 2,3-bis(2-pyridyl)pyrazine) in the presence of oxygen and low energy visible light. The Ru(II)–Pt(II) bimetallic complex shows promise as a photoactivated antibacterial agent that interacts with cells in a fundamentally different mode of action than cisplatin.