Fluorescent boron-cluster dyes as biocompatible photosensitizers with promising antimicrobial and anticarcinogenic activity

The increasing resistance of microorganisms (bacteria, virus, fungi...) against antimicrobials and antiseptics is one of the most challenging topics in current medicine and biology. Statistics from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that bacterial resistance to antibiotics causes over 20.000 deaths every year in EU member states alone. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) alerts that healthcare-associated infections caused mainly by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria remain a public health issue and emphasizes the importance and urgency to search for effective alternative approaches based on completely different mechanisms. One of the promising approaches to fight against infections is the antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) using biocompatible photosensitizers.Compared to classical antimicrobials, the biggest advantage of aPDT is the very low probability that the target microorganisms have the opportunity to develop resistance. Furthermore, aPDT can be synergistically combined with other antibacterial treatments, such as radiotherapy, antibiotic treatments, and photothemal therapy, to improve its antibacterial efficiency. The main goal of this project is to engineer novel boron rich biocompatible photosensitizers, with suppressed π-π interactions and herewith enhanced for efficient singlete O2 production, to be used in a twofold objective: a) as aPDT agents for the inactivation of microorganisms in sanitary instruments and medical devices; b) as antitumor agents in dual PDT-BNCT cancer therapies. The innovation is focused on the development boron content PSs with multiple applications both for antimicrobial (aPDT) and anti-cancer (PDT and BNCT)