AIEgens for microorganism‐related visualization and therapy

Abstract

Humans and bacteria have always been closely related. However, pathogenic bacteria and drug‐resistant bacteria pose a certain threat to human life and health. On the other hand, probiotics, such as intestinal flora, also affect our daily life. Understanding the microstructure of microorganisms is important for effective treatment of bacterial infections. Luminogens with aggregation‐induced emission properties are now recognized as potent fluorescent agents for the diagnosis and treatment of microorganisms. In this review, we summarized the most recent developments of AIEgen‐based biomaterials and discussed the advantages of AIE fluorescent probes for imaging. Their applications for rapid imaging of bacteria, differentiation of Gram‐ negative and positive bacteria, and specific imaging of intracellular bacteria and fungi are presented. The monitoring of bacteria‐cell interaction was also introduced. Finally, the design strategy of engineered bacteria‐AIEgen hybrid system and their role in anti‐cancer applications was discussed.

Supramolecular pyrrole radical cations for bacterial theranostics

“…Although P1 •+ -CB [7] cannot stain and kill live Gram-negative E. coli with a dense outer lipopolysaccharide layer (Fig. S16, ESI †), 36,37 both CLSM images and PL spectrum measurements show that it can stain dead E. coli treated with 75% ethanol (Fig. 4a and b).…”

Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE), Life and Health

“…However, a large A large percentage of microorganisms are pathogens that can infect animals and plants and cause varying diseases . Increasing efforts have been devoted to acute and real-time imaging of pathogenic bacteria. − Since bacterial cytoplasmic membranes are negatively charged, positively charged species can target bacteria specifically owing to electrostatic interactions. , Due to the turn-on fluorescence feature, AIEgens can be employed as promising tools for differentiating dead and living bacteria, long-term tracking of bacterial viability and evaluating bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics. − Bacteria can be divided into Gram-positive (G + ) and Gram-negative (G – ) subtypes, which is associated with differences in the cell wall structure and components . Considering the different roles and threats of varying types of bacteria, it is desirable to rapidly discriminate bacteria and further provide valuable information assisting the choice of appropriate antibacterial agents for accurate and efficient bacterial eradication. − A series of AIEgens with orderly enhanced D-A strength were developed for the discriminative imaging of Gram + bacteria .…”

Self-Reporting Hypoxia-Responsive Supramolecular Phototheranostic Nanomaterials Based on AIEgen and Azocalixarene

“…The emerging aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) with high QY, good photostability and efficient ROS generation in the aggregated state are ideal candidates to construct chemo/bioprobes. [41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49] While, AIEgens emitting bright fluorescence upon aggregation can cause large background noise during bio-imaging. To fulfill the whole potential of AIE photosensitizers and smartly tune their photophysical properties, a noncovalent strategy based on the host-guest interaction is proposed.…”