Modular Polymers With Tuneable Charge and Amphiphilicity for Effective Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy
6 affiliations
- 1Macromolecular Chemistry Department of Chemistry and Biology University of Siegen Siegen Germany
- 2Univ Brest Inserm EFS UMR1078 GGB F‐29200 Brest France
- 3ITODYS‐UMR CNRS 7086 Univ. Paris Cité Paris France
- 4CHU de Brest Service de Génétique Médicale et Biologie de la Reproduction Centre de Référence des Maladies Rares "Maladies Neuromusculaires" Brest France
- 5Université de Reims Champagne‐Ardenne Reims France
- 6CNRS UMR 6521 CEMCA Univ. Brest Brest France
Abstract
A modular synthetic platform delivers polymers that integrate, within a single architecture, a hydrophilic backbone, hydrophobic side chains, charged groups, and photoactive agents for antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT). Ruthenium complexes are used as representative photoactive systems, and clinical strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli serve as bacterial targets. Two complementary strategies are deployed in parallel within a single design framework: free‐radical copolymerisation of acrylic ruthenium–photosensitiser monomers, and post‐polymerisation modification of a pentafluorophenyl‐acrylate precursor with amine‐functionalised ruthenium complexes. Both routes allow independent tuning of composition, solubility, amphiphilic balance, and net charge, a set of properties that together govern the polymers' interaction with bacterial surfaces. The approach yields a library of seven water‐dispersible, amphiphilic polymer–metal hybrids. Benchmarked against a bare ruthenium complex, the aPDT‐polymers exhibit strong UV–visible absorption, efficient reactive oxygen species production, low (photo)cytotoxicity towards human bronchial epithelial cells, and potent antibacterial activity, particularly against multidrug‐resistant P. aeruginosa in planktonic and biofilm states. Multivariate clustering reveals clear guidelines for structure–activity relationships: anionic acrylic‐acid‐rich architectures are most effective against P. aeruginosa biofilms under saline conditions, while cationic compositions are preferential against planktonic S. aureus. The platform thus provides a rationally tuneable basis for next‐generation polymer‐based photoactive antimicrobials.
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BibTeX
@article{balasini2026modular,
title = {{Modular Polymers With Tuneable Charge and Amphiphilicity for Effective Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy}},
author = {Ali Balasini and Jannik Fryn and Margaux Bonnardot and Jérémy Godard and Tristan Montier and Gilles Lemercier and Franck Thétiot and Tony Le Gall and Ulrich Jonas},
journal = {Macromolecular Rapid Communications},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1002/marc.70426},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/marc.70426},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Modular Polymers With Tuneable Charge and Amphiphilicity for Effective Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy
AU - Ali Balasini
AU - Jannik Fryn
AU - Margaux Bonnardot
AU - Jérémy Godard
AU - Tristan Montier
AU - Gilles Lemercier
AU - Franck Thétiot
AU - Tony Le Gall
AU - Ulrich Jonas
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/10
JO - Macromolecular Rapid Communications
DO - 10.1002/marc.70426
UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/marc.70426
AB - A modular synthetic platform delivers polymers that integrate, within a single architecture, a hydrophilic backbone, hydrophobic side chains, charged groups, and photoactive agents for antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT). Ruthenium complexes are used as representative photoactive systems, and clinical strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli serve as bacterial targets. Two complementary strategies are deployed in parallel within a single design framework: free‐radical copolymerisation of acrylic ruthenium–photosensitiser monomers, and post‐polymerisation modification of a pentafluorophenyl‐acrylate precursor with amine‐functionalised ruthenium complexes. Both routes allow independent tuning of composition, solubility, amphiphilic balance, and net charge, a set of properties that together govern the polymers' interaction with bacterial surfaces. The approach yields a library of seven water‐dispersible, amphiphilic polymer–metal hybrids. Benchmarked against a bare ruthenium complex, the aPDT‐polymers exhibit strong UV–visible absorption, efficient reactive oxygen species production, low (photo)cytotoxicity towards human bronchial epithelial cells, and potent antibacterial activity, particularly against multidrug‐resistant P. aeruginosa in planktonic and biofilm states. Multivariate clustering reveals clear guidelines for structure–activity relationships: anionic acrylic‐acid‐rich architectures are most effective against P. aeruginosa biofilms under saline conditions, while cationic compositions are preferential against planktonic S. aureus. The platform thus provides a rationally tuneable basis for next‐generation polymer‐based photoactive antimicrobials.
SN - 1022-1336
SN - 1521-3927
ER -