Membrane intercalation-enhanced photodynamic inactivation of bacteria by a metallacycle and TAT-decorated virus coat protein

Significance Photodynamic inactivation (PDI), which has led to little antibiotic resistance, plays a promising role in the control of bacterial infection. Its main mechanism is the damage of membrane components by reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, achieving bacterial membrane intercalation of the photosensitizers remains a challenge. Here, we report the self-assembly of an aggregation-induced emission active photosensitizer with a cell-penetrating peptide-decorated virus coat protein. This assembly exhibits both ROS generation and a strong membrane-intercalating capacity, resulting in significantly enhanced PDI efficiency against bacteria. Especially for Escherichia coli possessing outer membrane, this assembly decreases the survival rate to nearly zero upon light irradiation. This study has implications from the control of bacterial infection to the generation of multifunctional nanomaterials.