Light controlled drug-based supramolecular polymer self-assemblies for efficient antibacterial manipulation

The infections and diseases caused by harmful bacteria are regarded as the worldwide health-threatening issue. The most antibiotics-based delivery systems restricted the controlled drug release at specific infection sites due to the stable chemical conjugation, thus largely compromising the treatment effectiveness. Herein, we report the construction of light controlled drug-based supramolecular polymer (LDSP), which is endowed the “switch on” function for realizing the controllable antibiotics released in specific sites. LDSP was first formed based on the host-guest interaction between β-cyclodextrin units grafted hyaluronic acid chain (HA-CD) and azobenzene moiety linked by two enoxacin units (Azo-(Eno)₂), and could further self-assemble into light controlled drug-based supramolecular polymer self-assemblies (LDSPSAs). Under the UV light irradiation, the “switch on” function of LDSPSAs could be effectively turned on at the specific infected tissues due to the smartly dissociated host-guest interaction, facilitating the controlled release of the hydrophobic Azo-(Eno)₂ to interact with bacteria for efficient antibacterial effect. The biological evaluation demonstrated that LDSPSAs achieved good antibacterial efficiency and well biosafety.