Tellurium Nanoagents with Chiral Shape Efficiently Combat MRSA Infection

Infections caused by drug-resistant strains are one of the biggest challenges facing public health. In order to solve this problem, in this paper, tellurium nanoreagents with chiral shapes were prepared by a green method using glutathione as a reducing agent and chiral inducer and fructose as a capping agent and chiral auxiliary. Then, the butterfly-like FTe NPs are bonded with Chlorin e6 to fabricate a nanosystem (FTe-Ce6 NPs) for combating drug-resistant bacterial infection. The proposed FTe-Ce6 not only preserves the high photothermal conversion efficiency of FTe (78.3%) but also improves the stability of Ce6 and promotes the production of ROS. With the aid of NIR irradiation, FTe-Ce6 can eradicate planktonic Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, especially methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in vitro. Synergistic photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) exhibit broad-spectrum germicidal efficacy. In an in vivo model of MRSA infection, FTe-Ce6 showed high activity in eliminating infection, reducing inflammation, and promoting tissue recovery. This tellurium nanomaterial can be used as an antibiotic-free antimicrobial agent for the treatment of drug-resistant bacterial infections and has potential clinical applications.