AIE-Active Glycomimetics Triggered Bacterial Agglutination and Membrane-Intercalating towards Efficient Photodynamic Antiseptic.

Opportunistic infections caused by P. aeruginosa are particularly difficult to treat due to the altered membrane permeability and inherent resistance to conventional antibiotics. Here, we designed and synthesized a cationic glycomimetics with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics namely TPyGal, which self-assembles into the spherical aggregates with galactosylated surface. TPyGal aggregates can effectively cluster P. aeruginosa through multivalent carbohydrate-lectin interactions and auxiliary electrostatic interaction and subsequently trigger membrane-intercalating, which results in efficient photodynamic eradication of P. aeruginosa under white light irradiation by in situ 1 O 2 burst to disrupt bacterial membrane. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that TPyGal aggregates promote the healing of infected wounds, indicating the potential for clinical treatment of P. aeruginosa infections. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.